| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| state |
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| PRONUNCIATION: |  st t |
| NOUN: | 1. A condition or mode of being, as with regard to circumstances: a state of confusion. 2. A condition of being in a stage or form, as of structure, growth, or development: the fetal state. 3. A mental or emotional condition: in a manic state. 4. Informal A condition of excitement or distress. 5. Physics The condition of a physical system with regard to phase, form, composition, or structure: Ice is the solid state of water. 6. Social position or rank. 7. Ceremony; pomp: foreign leaders dining in state at the White House. 8a. The supreme public power within a sovereign political entity. b. The sphere of supreme civil power within a given polity: matters of state. 9. A specific mode of government: the socialist state. 10. A body politic, especially one constituting a nation: the states of Eastern Europe. 11. One of the more or less internally autonomous territorial and political units composing a federation under a sovereign government: the 48 contiguous states of the Union. | | ADJECTIVE: | 1. Of or relating to a body politic or to an internally autonomous territorial or political unit constituting a federation under one government: a monarch dealing with state matters; the department that handles state security. 2. Owned and operated by a state: state universities. | | TRANSITIVE VERB: | Inflected forms: stat·ed, stat·ing, states
To set forth in words; declare. | | ETYMOLOGY: | Middle English, from Old French estat, from Latin status. See st- in Appendix I. | | OTHER FORMS: | stat a·ble, statea·ble —ADJECTIVE
| | SYNONYMS: | state, condition, situation, status These nouns denote the mode of being or form of existence of a person or thing: an old factory in a state of disrepair; a jogger in healthy condition; a police officer responding to a dangerous situation; the uncertain status of the peace negotiations.
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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