State, n.
Etymology: [OE. stat, OF. estat, F. état, fr. L. status a standing, position, fr. stare, statum, to stand. See Stand, and cf. Estate, Status.]
1. The circumstances or condition of a being or thing at any given time. State is a term nearly synonymous with "mode," but of a meaning more extensive, and is not exclusively limited to the mutable and contingent. Sir W. Hamilton. Declare the past and present state of things. Dryden. Keep the state of the question in your eye. Boyle.
2. Rank; condition; quality; as, the state of honor. Thy honor, state, and seat is due to me. Shak.
3. Condition of prosperity or grandeur; wealthy or prosperous circumstances; social importance. She instructed him how he should keep state, and yet with a modest sense of his misfortunes. Bacon. Can this imperious lord forget to reign, Quit all his state, descend, and serve again Pope.
4. Appearance of grandeur or dignity; pomp. Where least og state there most of love is shown. Dryden.
13 more senses
5. A chair with a canopy above it, often standing on a dais; a seat of dignity; also, the canopy itself. [Obs.] His high throne, . . . under state Of richest texture spread. Milton. When he went to court, he used to kick away the state, and sit down by his prince cheek by jowl. Swift.
6. Estate, possession. [Obs.] Daniel. Your state, my lord, again in yours. Massinger.
7. A person of high rank. [Obs.] Latimer.
8. Any body of men united by profession, or constituting a community of a particular character; as, the civil and ecclesiastical states, or the lords spiritual and temporal and the commons, in Great Britain. Cf. Estate, n., 6.
9. The principal persons in a government. The bold design Pleased highly those infernal states. Milton.
10. The bodies that constitute the legislature of a country; as, the States-general of Holland.
11. A form of government which is not monarchial, as a republic. [Obs.] Well monarchies may own religion's name, But states are atheists in their very fame. Dryden.
12. A political body, or body politic; the whole body of people who are united one government, whatever may be the form of the government; a nation. Municipal law is a rule of conduct prescribed by the supreme power in a state. Blackstone. The Puritans in the reign of Mary, driven from their homes, sought an asylum in Geneva, where they found a state without a king, and a church without a bishop. R. Choate.
13. In the United States, one of the commonwealth, or bodies politic, the people of which make up the body of the nation, and which, under the national constitution, stands in certain specified relations with the national government, and are invested, as commonwealth, with full power in their several spheres over all matters not expressly inhibited.
Note: The term State, in its technical sense, is used in distinction from the federal system, i. e., the government of the United States.
14. Highest and stationary condition, as that of maturity between growth and decline, or as that of crisis between the increase and the abating of a disease; height; acme. [Obs.]
Note: When state is joined with another word, or used adjectively, it denotes public, or what belongs to the community or body politic, or to the government; also, what belongs to the States severally in the American Union; as, state affairs; state policy; State laws of Iowa. Nascent state. (Chem.) See under Nascent. -- Secretary of state. See Secretary, n., 3. -- State bargea royal barge, or a barge belonging to a government. -- State bed, an elaborately carved or decorated bed. -- State carriage, a highly decorated carriage for officials going in state, or taking part in public processions. -- State paper, an official paper relating to the interests or government of a state. Jay. -- State prison, a public prison or penitentiary; -- called also State's prison. -- State prisoner, one is confinement, or under arrest, for a political offense. -- State rights, or States' rights, the rights of the several independent States, as distinguished from the rights of the Federal government. It has been a question as to what rights have been vested in the general government. [U.S.] -- State's evidence. See Probator, 2, and under Evidence. -- State sword, a sword used on state occasions, being borne before a sovereign by an attendant of high rank. -- State trial, a trial of a person for a political offense. -- States of the Church. See under Ecclesiastical.
Syn. -- State, Situation, Condition. State is the generic term, and denotes in general the mode in which a thing stands or exists. The situation of a thing is its state in reference to external objects and influences; its condition is its internal state, or what it is in itself considered. Our situation is good or bad as outward things bear favorably or unfavorably upon us; our condition is good or bad according to the state we are actually in as respects our persons, families, property, and other things which comprise our sources of enjoyment. I do not, brother, Infer as if I thought my sister's state Secure without all doubt or controversy. Milton. We hoped to enjoy with ease what, in our situation, might be called the luxuries of life. Cock. And, O, what man's condition can be worse Than his whom plenty starves and blessings curse Cowley.
3 other Webster entries under this spelling
State, a.
1. Stately. [Obs.] Spenser.
2. Belonging to the state, or body politic; public.
State, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Stated; p. pr. & vb. n. Stating.]
1. To set; to settle; to establish. [R.] I myself, though meanest stated, And in court now almost hated. Wither. Who calls the council, states the certain day. Pope.
2. To express the particulars of; to set down in detail or in gross; to represent fully in words; to narrate; to recite; as, to state the facts of a case, one's opinion, etc. To state it. To assume state or dignity. [Obs.] "Rarely dressed up, and taught to state it." Beau. & Fl.
State, n.
A statement; also, a document containing a statement. [R.] Sir W. Scott.
Shades of meaning
To state (L. sto, stand) is to set forth explicitly, formally, or particularly in speech or writing. Assert (L. ad, to, and sero, bind) is strongly personal, signifying to state boldly and positively what the one making the statement has not attempted and may not attempt to prove. Affirm has less of egotism than assert (as seen in the word self-assertion), coming nearer to aver. It has more solemnity than declare, and more composure and dignity than asseverate, which is to assert excitedly. In legal usage, affirm has a general agreement with depose and testify; it differs from swear in not invoking the name of God. To assure is to state with such authority and confidence as the speaker feels ought to make the hearer sure. Certify is more formal, and applies rather to written documents or legal processes. Assure, certify, inform, apply to the person; affirm, etc., to the thing. Assert is combative; assure is conciliatory. I assert my right to cross the river; I assure my friend it is perfectly safe. To aver is to state positively what is within one's own knowledge or matter of deep conviction. One may assert himself, or assert his right to what he is willing to contend for; or he may assert in discussion what he is ready to maintain by argument or evidence. To assert without proof is always to lay oneself open to the suspicion of having no proof to offer, and seems to arrogate too much to one's personal authority, and hence in such cases both the verb assert and its noun assertion have an unfavorable sense; we say a mere assertion, a bare assertion, his unsupported assertion; he asserted his innocence has less force than he affirmed or maintained his innocence. Affirm, state, and tell have not the controversial sense of assert, but are simply declarative. To vindicate is to defend successfully what is assailed. Almost every criminal will assert his innocence; the honest man will seldom lack means to vindicate his integrity.