| 释义 |
▪ I. state, n.|steɪt|
Forms: 3–6 stat, (4 stade, pl. stas (?)), 4–5 staat, 4–5, 7 statt, 4–6 statte, 4, 5–7 Sc. stait(e, 5–6 Sc. stayt(e, 6 Sc. staet, steat, 7 Sc. staitt, 4– state.
[Partly var. of estate n. a. OF. estat (mod.F. état) = Pr. estat-z, Sp., Pg. estado, It. stato, ad. L. status (u stem), manner of standing, condition, n. of action f. sta-, stāre to stand; partly direct adaptation from the Latin source. The word in the Rom. langs. has or has had most of the senses of the Eng. state and estate; in the mod. Teut. langs. it has been adopted in forms derived from Latin or It. (G., Du. staat, Sw., Da. stat) chiefly in the political senses, though other uses also exist; Sw. has the form ståt in the sense ceremonial grandeur, pomp (sense 17 below).]
I. Condition, manner of existing.
1. a. A combination of circumstances or attributes belonging for the time being to a person or thing; a particular manner or way of existing, as defined by the presence of certain circumstances or attributes; a condition. Sometimes qualified by an adj. or a following phrasal genitive.
state of nature: see nature n. 14. state of siege: the condition of undergoing investment by a hostile army; also transf.
a1225Ancr. R. 204 Þet is riht religiun, þet euerich, efter his stat, boruwe et tisse urakele worlde so lutel so heo euer mei. c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) vi. 21 Þat he schuld bring it [the Euphrates] to swilke a state þat wymmen schuld mow wade ouer and noȝt wete þaire kneesse. c1450Reg. Godstow Nunnery (1911) 415 That the forsaid ser Thomas shold susteyne the forsaid halle..in all so good a state or better than he resceived hit. c1460Oseney Reg. 161 That þe waye Bitwene þ⊇ londe of þe same Roger and my londe..be in þ⊇ same state in þe which it whas i-purueyed..In the tyme of theobalde of Bray. 1500–20Dunbar Poems lxxii. 130 To keip the house in sicker stait. c1600Shakes. Sonn. xxix. 2, I all alone beweepe my out-cast state. 1735H. Walpole Let. 5 Sept. in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. i. 259 Y⊇ violent & desperate state of their affairs. 1750Johnson Rambler No. 28 ⁋13 Adversity has ever been considered as the state in which a man most easily becomes acquainted with himself. 1791Cowper Let. to Lady Hesketh 26 June, Olney is also itself in a state of beautification. 1793Smeaton Edystone L. §324 Concerning the State and Condition of the Edystone Lighthouse. 1809Lond. Chron. 1 July 4/2 He..saw the young lady opposite to him..in a state of nature, quite naked. 1815J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 833 The changes which it exhibits according to the state of the weather. 1843Wordsworth in Chr. Wordsw. Mem. (1851) I. 97 A successful play would in the then state of my finances have been a most welcome piece of good fortune. 1847Tennyson in Ld. Tennyson Mem. (1897) I. xi. 244 My pen is..in a state of hopeless splittage and divarication. 1848,1873[see siege n. 6 b]. 1880Encycl. Brit. XIII. 190/2 International law regards the states of the world as being either in a state of war or in a state of peace. 1890Law Times Rep. LXIII. 766/2 Owing to the crowded state of the port. 1891Law Times XC. 411/2 Allowing a foundry and other property to fall into..a state of disrepair.
b. in regard to welfare or prosperity (worldly, moral or spiritual). Now somewhat rare.
a1300Cursor M. 5059 ‘How fars’, he said, ‘our fadir state?’ 13..Sir Beues 1990 Þai kiste hem anon wiþ þat And aþer askede of oþeres stat. c1325Poem temp. Edw. II (Percy) vii, Erchebisshopes and byshopes, That schuld trewly enquere Of al men of holy cherche In what stat thei were. c1386Chaucer Prol. 572 Algate he wayted so in his Achaat That he was ay biforn and in good staat. 1632Massinger Maid of Honour ii. iii, If we come off, It is not amisse, if not, my state is settl'd. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. iii. I. 415 The great criterion of the state of the common people is the amount of their wages.
†c. for the state of = for the welfare of (a person prayed for). Obs. Cf. 27.
1395E.E. Wills 8 To preye for my lordes soule..and for the stat of my sone forseid. [1399Gower Eng. Wks. (Macaulay) II. 492 Et nunc sequitur epistola in qua idem Ioannes pro statu et salute dicti domini sui apud altissimum deuocius exorat.] c1460Oseney Reg. 70 For þe stabulnese of all þe reame and state and welth of our Kyng ande quene.
d. as regards health of mind and body.
† state of mortality: a fatal epidemic.
a1300Cursor M. 28496 Womman ner hir chiltyng state. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints xli. (Agnes) 71 His fadir send..medicinaris, his stat to se. 1538Starkey England 35 Yet yf hyt be deformyd..the body hath not hys perfayt state and vertue. 1591Savile Tacitus, Hist. ii. xciii. 108 The Germans and Frenchmen lying by the Tiber..vtterly ouerthrew the state of their body with too much swimming in the riuer and impatience of heate. c1600Shakes. Sonn. cxviii. 11 And brought to medicine a healthfull state. 1700in Jrnl. Friends' Hist. Soc. (1914) Oct. 180 A letter..from my sister..who..advises of a state of mortality in ther Country attended with a sort of feauor. 1813Jane Austen Lett. (1884) II. 202 It is but roughish weather for any one in a tender state. 1854J. C. Bucknill Unsoundness of Mind 89 He was fully conscious of his state, and had great hopes of being cured in the asylum. 1899Allbutt's Syst. Med. VIII. 492 Urticaria occurs as a premonitory..or concomitant phenomenon in a great number of morbid states. 1908R. Bagot A. Cuthbert xxviii. 370 It was in vain that he attempted to deceive his patient as to her state.
†e. as regards means of livelihood, riches or possessions. Obs. Cf. sense 36 and estate n. 2.
1389in Eng. Gilds (1870) 20 If eny brother or sister falle in pouert,..his state shal bene holpen, of euery brother and sister of ye gilde, wt a ferthyng in ye woke. a1425tr. Arderne's Treat. Fistula, etc. (1910) 5 Þan after þat þe state of þe pacient askeþ aske he boldly more or lesse. c1430How Good Wife taught Dau. 149 in Hazl. E.P.P. I. 190 Ilke a man after his state, and ȝeue the pouere atte nede. 1557F. Seager Sch. Vertue 1088 in Babees Bk., Ye that are poore, with your state be contente. c1590Greene Fr. Bacon 588 Ile giue Liuing and lands to strength thy colledge state. 1611Tourneur Ath. Trag. ii. i, Yow shall doe well if yow be sicke to set Your state in present order. 1763Churchill Conference 109 My Credit at last gasp, my State undone.
f. colloq. Used for ‘a dreadful state’ (of dirt, untidiness, etc.). Cf. 2 c.
1879F. W. Robinson Coward Consc. ii. vii, Just look what a [dirty] state I am in!
2. a. A condition (of mind or feeling); the mental or emotional condition in which a person finds himself at a particular time.
1538Starkey England 43 When prosperyte ys wel vsyd, hyt ys a mean to set mannys mynd in that state, wherby he schal attayne hyar felycyte. 1638Junius Paint. Ancients 292 The motions of the countenance doe best expresse the state of the mind. 1728Law Serious Call ix, Covetousness..supposes a foolish and unreasonable state of mind. 1751Johnson Rambler No. 155 ⁋2 It seems generally believed, that, as the eye cannot see itself, the mind has no faculties by which it can contemplate its own state. 1820Southey Wesley I. 329 England was but in too apt a state for receiving the poison. 1848Thackeray Van. Fair lviii, He..brought Mr. Jos..to a very good state of feeling regarding his relatives in Europe. 1865Ruskin Sesame i. §31 No reading is possible for a people with its mind in this state. 1882C. Pebody Eng. Journalism xx. 149 The whole country was in a state of white heat about the Roman Catholic claims. 1890tr. Moll's Hypnotism 48 From the above examples it appears that the various hypnotic states differ much from one another.
b. as a technical term of psychology; esp. in state of mind, state of consciousness.
1749D. Hartley Observ. Man I. Introd. p. iii, The Will is that State of Mind, which is immediately previous to, and causes, those express Acts of Memory, Fancy, and bodily Motion, which are termed voluntary. c1790Reid Lett. to Gregory Wks. (1846) 85 The reason why madness, idiotism, &c., are called states of mind, while its acts and operations are not, is because mankind have always conceived the mind to be passive in the former and active in the later. c1810T. Brown Lect. Philos. Hum. Mind (1820) I. 245 To the whole series of states of the mind, then, whatever the individual momentary successive states may be, I give the name of our consciousness. 1836–7Sir W. Hamilton Lect. Metaphysics (1859) I. 203 We are conscious of one mental state only as we contradistinguish it from another. c1837― Reid's Wks. (1846) 85 note, The term State has, more especially of late years, and principally by Necessitarian philosophers, been applied to all modifications of mind indifferently. 1862Spencer First Princ. i. iii. §19. (1875) 61 It is..beyond question that our states of consciousness occur in succession. 1866[see consciousness 4].
c. Used colloq. for: An agitated or excited state of mind or feeling. Cf. 1 f.
1837Marryat Perc. Keene xxii, Lord, what a state I shall be in till I know what has taken place. 1890–91Boston (Mass.) Jrnl., There is no concealing the fact that English printers and publishers are in a state of mind over the International Copyright bill. 1902V. Jacob Sheep-Stealers xiv, Don't you remember when she went away, what a state you were in and how you raged?
†d. Condition of mind or feeling as displayed in one's manner or behaviour. Obs.
13..Bonaventura's Medit. 391 Þan cryst answered, with mylde state. 1375Barbour Bruce vii. 128 Thai changit contenanss and late, And held nocht in the first stat..For thai var fayis to the kyng.
3. The mode of existence of a spiritual being; a particular mode or phase of (spiritual) existence.
future state: see future a. 1 b.
c1300S. Eng. Leg. 439/275 (Harl. MS.) Of þe pure stat of crist & of his mageste. Ibid. 281 Þe gretteste clerkes..Ne þoȝte þat eni vrþlich man so furforþ miȝte go Ne wite so moche of godes stat bote hit angel were. c1380Wyclif Sel. Wks. I. 132 Þis aungel..telliþ hem how now Crist is sittynge in hevene, for his staat here in erþe is fulli performed. a1400Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS. xxiii. 958 Beo we translated in to blis Of wel better state. 1533More Confut. Tindale vii. Wks. 720/1 The state of this present life. 1565Allen Def. Purg. xvi. 280 All that passe hense in the happy state of grace. a1667[see nature n. 14]. 1675R. Burthogge Causa Dei 61 Is not the State of Hell in Scripture called the Second Death? 1684Norris Poems, etc. 70 Are we affraid of making too nigh advances to the State of Angels? 1719De Foe Crusoe ii. (Globe) 443 It is a clear Evidence of God, and of a future State. a1805Paley Serm. Sev. Subj. v. 635/1 Our new bodies will be infinitely superior to those which we carry about with us in our present state. 1850Tennyson In Mem. lxxxii. 6 From state to state the spirit walks. Ibid. lxxxv. 22 The great Intelligences fair That range above our mortal state. 1883[see future a. 1 b]. 1907F. Weston The One Christ 53 First, the Incarnation involved a state of being that is quite inferior to the divine state.
4. a. Physical condition as regards internal make or constitution, molecular form or structure, and the like. Also, one of several forms or conditions in which an object—animal, vegetable, or mineral—is found to exist; a phase or stage of existence. Also in generalized or abstract sense: each of the possible modes of existence of a system; the condition of a device that determines what output it produces for a given input.
c1290S. Eng. Leg. 239/701 Þe eyr was euere in o stat, naþur to hot ne to cold. a1300Leg. Rood ii. 100 Þo hi were iwoxe to þe lengþe of an elne ich wene In þulke stat hi stode longe and euermore grene. 1340Ayenb. 28 Þanne by þe godspelle þet corn heþ þri stas, uor hit is uerst ase ine gerse, efterward ine yere, efterward is uol of frut. 1545Elyot Dict., Amphicyrtos, is the state of the moone, as wel whan he is somwhat increased..as also whan he is in the wane. 1721Bradley Philos. Acc. Wks. Nat. 156, I have found it a little difficult to bring Water and Pepper into a right State of yielding these Insects. a1805Paley Serm. Sev. Subj. v. 634/1 When an animal changes its state, it changes its body. 1815J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 243 Water, in the state of vapour. 1823Scoresby Jrnl. 411, I do not consider it different from a dwarf state of V. uliginosum. 1849J. F. Wood Midland Florist iii. 122 Bulbs in a breeder state throw up stronger and bolder flowers than when in colour. 1859Ruskin Two Paths iv. §143 The most perfect and useful state of it [iron] is that of ochreous stain. 1876Tait Rec. Adv. Phys. Sci. ix. 219 Some black body..which may be either in a solid or in a liquid state,—possibly even in the state of extremely compressed gas. 1937A. M. Turing in Proc. London Math. Soc. XLII. 250 We know the state of the system if we know the sequence of symbols on the tape, which of these are observed by the computer.., and the state of mind of the computer. 1942, etc. [see Markov]. 1954Jrnl. Franklin Inst. CCLVII. 170 Once a stable state has been reached for all secondary relays, then further circuit changes can occur only if modification is made in the input state. 1961F. M. Reza Introd. Information Theory ii. 54 Let an experiment have a finite number of n possible outcomes, a1, a2,{ddd}, and an, called states. We assume the process to be of the finite Markov type and initially in the state k. 1962A. Gill Introd. Theory of Finite-State Machines i. 6 Roughly, the state of a finite-state machine at any given sampling time is that variable which, together with the input symbol, enables one to predict the output symbol. Ibid. iv. 130 Let M be an n-state machine with the input alphabet X = {ob}ξ1, ξ2,{ddd}, ξp{cb}. 1964F. L. Westwater Electronic Computers ii. 21 The reliable and stable electronic devices are so far two-state devices... If we had a three-state device we could..develop a ternary system of arithmetic. 1979J. R. Gibson Electronic Logic Circuits i. 5 Logic elements may be combined to form multiple-state systems and the states of such systems may be used to represent numbers in systems other than the binary one.
b. spec. in Physics, a condition of an atom or other quantized system described by a particular set of quantum numbers; esp. one characterized by the quantum numbers n, L, S, J, and m. Cf. level n. 3 e.
1913N. Bohr in Phil. Mag. XXVI. 5 If in these expressions we give τ, different values, we get a series of values for W, ω, and a corresponding to a series of configurations of the system. According to the above considerations, we are led to assume that these configurations will correspond to states of the system in which there is no radiation of energy; states which consequently will be stationary as long as the system is not disturbed from outside. 1925Astrophysical Jrnl. LXI. 39 Every spectral line is now believed to be emitted (or absorbed) in connection with the transition of an atom (or molecule) between two definite (quantized) states, of different energy-content—the frequency of the radiation being exactly proportional to the change of energy. 1929N. V. Sidgwick Electronic Theory of Valency ii. 18 These states are distinguished by the fact that in them the electron possesses an integral number..of quanta of energy. 1935P. A. M. Dirac Princ. Quantum Mech. (ed. 2) i. 11 A state of a system may be defined as an undisturbed motion that is restricted by as many conditions or data as are theoretically possible without mutual interference or contradiction. 1935Condon & Shortley Theory Atomic Spectra iv. 122 The terms are designated as 2S (doublet S), 2P, 2D,{ddd}according to the P value of the configuration from which they arise. The separate levels are designated by adding the value of j as a superscript, thus 2S½{ddd}To specify an individual state the value of m is given as a superscript. 1955E. B. Wilson et al. Molecular Vibrations x. 246 The selection rules for overtone frequencies will next be considered. These are transitions between the ground vibrational state and an excited state in which one quantum number is greater than one and all other quantum numbers are zero. 1970[see level n. 3 e]. 1972De Puy & Chapman Molec. Reactions & Photochem. iii. 43 Formaldehyde, which is planar in its ground state, distorts slightly toward a pyramidal structure in the S1 state. 1978P. W. Atkins Physical Chem. xix. 631 The isotope 57Co decays slowly..and forms an excited nuclear state of 57Fe.
5. a. the (or a) state of things or affairs: the way in which events or circumstances stand disposed (at a particular time or within a particular sphere). spec. in the philosophy of L. Wittgenstein (1889–1951): see quots. 1922, 1962.
Cf. L. status rerum, in reference to public or political affairs; and quot. 1387 in b.
1555Eden Decades (Arb.) 114 Thalteracion of the state of thynges in Vraba. 1580Campion in Allen Martyrdom (1908) 21, I thought it good to give you intelligence..of the present stat of things here. 1607Chapman Bussy d'Ambois i. i. 1 Fortune, not Reason, rules the state of things. 1776St. James's Chron. 23–25 May 4/1 Administration had, to the Scandal of all good Government, suppressed every Thing relative to the true State of Affairs in America. 1794Burke Corr. (1844) IV. 253 This is an unfortunate state of things; but it is your state, and you must conform to it. 1856Froude Hist. Eng. (1858) I. i. 87 We have seen a state of things in which the principles of political economy were..contradicted. 1871Freeman Norm. Conq. IV. xvii. (1876) 64 In Herefordshire and on the Welsh border the state of things was very unsettled. 1909G. B. Shaw Press Cuttings 31 We [women] should lose our influence completely under such a state of affairs. 1911E. L. Thorndike Animal Intelligence vi. 245 By a satisfying state of affairs is meant one which the animal does nothing to avoid. 1922tr. Wittgenstein's Tractatus 31 It would..appear as an accident, when to a thing that could exist alone on its own account, subsequently a state of affairs could be made to fit. Ibid. 35 Objects contain the possibility of all states of affairs. Ibid. 43 The picture contains the possibility of the state of affairs which it represents. 1958R. L. Green Land of Lord High Tiger ii. 33 Sad affairs of State! Sad state of affairs! Affairs in a sad state! 1962M. Cranston tr. Hartnack's Wittgenstein & Mod. Philos. ii. 13 A ‘state of affairs’ is a fact that in itself does not consist of facts... A state of affairs is a combination of possible facts. Ibid. 14 If an elementary sentence, or, better, an elementary proposition is true, then the state of affairs which is spoken of exists. 1973A. Kenny Wittgenstein v. 73 States of affairs, we are told, are independent of one another.
†b. A dispensation or system of divine government during a particular era. Also, state of things.
1387Trevisa Higden I. 31 Descrypcions of places, states of thynges, distinccion of tymes. Ibid. Touchynge þe secounde take hede of tweie states, oon from þe bygynnynge of þe world to Criste, and is i-cleped þe staat of mysgoynge; the secounde staat from Criste to þe worldes end, and is i-cleped þe state of grace and of mercy.
†c. state of time or times: a juncture or posture of affairs. Obs.
1594Shakes. Rich. III, iv. iv. 416 Vrge the Necessity and state of times. 1596― 1 Hen. IV. iv. i. 25, I would the state of time had first beene whole, Ere he by sicknesse had beene visited. 1662Stillingfl. Orig. Sacræ ii. i. §5 How can we conceive the Nation of the Jews would have ever embraced such a Law, had it not been of Moses his enacting among them in that state of time when he did?
d. the state of the case: the facts and circumstances of a particular affair, question, etc.
1729Butler Serm. Wks. 1850 II. Pref. p. xvii, The taking in this consideration totally changes the whole state of the case. 1848Thackeray Van. Fair xiii, And the real state of the case would never have been known at all in the regiment but for Captain Dobbin's indiscretion. a1873Deutsch Lit. Rem. (1874) 365 This is the simple state of the case.
e. state of the art: the current stage of development of a practical or technological subject; freq. (esp. in attrib. use) implying the use of the latest techniques in a product or activity.
[1889: see status 4.] 1910H. H. Suplee Gas Turbine 6 It has therefore been thought desirable to gather under one cover the most important papers... In the present state of the art this is all that can be done. 1955Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. LIX. 471/1 Flight instruments and flight techniques of human pilots had to be brought up to a state where automatic flying could be fitted into a consistent state-of-the-art picture. 1957R. A. Heinlein Door into Summer (1960) v. 69 Engineering is the art of the practical and depends more on the total state of the art than it does on the individual engineer. 1967Technology Week 23 Jan. 18/1 (Advt.), Poseidon's requirements range from weapon effects on electronics to the design and use of state-of-the-art test checkout equipment. 1970J. Earl Tuners & Amplifiers iv. 79 An average magnetic cartridge at the current state of the art produces an output of 1 mV per channel for each velocity unit of 1 cm/S. 1970Daily Tel. (Colour Suppl.) 9 Oct. 7 Our highly sophisticated, technological defence establishment is advancing the state-of-the-art weaponry into new and therefore secret areas. 1975Language LI. 1009 What emerges about the state of the art in linguistics is incidental to the presentation of L[abov]'s analysis of language use in various speech communities. 1976National Observer (U.S.) 27 Mar. 15/2 State-of-the-art solar research is well advanced in New Mexico. 1976Offshore Platforms & Pipelining 16/3 Except for an innovation or two, the platform is state-of-the-art and no more than an extension of existing capabilities. 1978Sci. Amer. Apr. 64/3 In the 1950's C. Miller Fisher..proposed that anastomosis, or joining, of cerebral arteries beyond the point of occlusion might be appropriate in some stroke cases, but such manipulations were then still beyond the state of the art. 1978SLR Camera Aug. 54/1 It is still not so easy to produce decent pictures at such a venue, even when one is replete with ‘state of the art’ cameras, long lenses and fast film.
f. State of the Union message: a yearly address delivered by the President of the U.S. to Congress, giving the Administration's view of the state of the nation and its plans for legislation.
[1787Constitution as formed for U.S. ii. iii. 10 He shall from time to time give to the Congress information of the state of the union.] 1945Newsweek 15 Jan. 30 (caption) Three days before the President's State of the Union message, the 79th Congress takes its oath of office. 1959Ann. Reg. 1958 182 The President appeared in person before both Houses of Congress on 9 January to deliver his State of the Union Message. 1968W. Safire New Lang. Politics 427 State of the Union messages (preferred over speeches, addresses, or reports..) have inclined to be lengthy statements of legislative intent. 1974Guardian 31 Jan. 2/7 President Nixon's sixth—and very possibly his last—State of the Union message.
g. the state of play: the position in which a matter or business stands at a particular time.
1966Rep. Comm. Inquiry Univ. Oxf. II. 56 Receiving applications..and keeping colleges informed on the ‘state of play’ on each candidate. 1971A. Garve Late Bill Smith i. 38 You know the state of play, you can handle everything. 1979R. Mutch Gemstone v. 56 Write me a short report... I want the state of play. I want it accurate and I want it now.
†6. With contextual implication:
a. Original, proper or normal condition; a sound, healthy, flourishing, prosperous condition. (Cf. estate n. 1 d.) Chiefly in phrases, as to be (or stand) in state: to be firmly established or flourishing; to be intact; also, to remain ‘in statu quo’. to bring in, to (one's) state: to reinstate, restore. to put of, out of state, to deprive of one's position or status, disinherit, degrade. Obs.
1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 254 Atte laste þo he in stat was & him þoȝte þat is per in þe world nas. a1300Cursor M. 9219 Þe Iuues now er put o state, And þair kingrik translate. Ibid. 20958 To halt o ganging gaf he stat. c1320Cast. Loue 1206 Þorw whom þe fend was al mat, And þe world for-bouȝt and brouȝt in stat. 1340–70Alex. & Dind. 686 A soþ god..Þat haþ þe stomak in stat stifly to kepe. 1375Barbour Bruce i. 297 Bot wondirly hard thing is fell Till him, or he till state wes brocht. 1387Trevisa Higden III. 165 Þat Tarquinius schulde be brouȝt to his state and in to þe citee aȝen. c1470Henry Wallace v. 340 He bad thaim se giff that place stud in stait; Tharoff to her he had full gret desyr, Be caus he thocht that it was all in fyr. 1531in Archæologia XLVII. 62 Sharing some dishe from thyn own bord and likewise from thy chanons till tyme thou bring thy said house in state agayne. 1605Bacon Adv. Learn. i. iv. §1 To scandalize and depraue that which retaineth the state and vertue, by taking aduantage vpon that which is corrupt and degenerate. Ibid. ii. xxi. §2 To preserue in state is the lesse, to preserue with aduancement is the greater. 1638Earl of Manchester in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.) I. 278 Things here rest as yet in state as they were.
†b. Fixed or stable condition. Obs.
1597Bacon Coulers Good & Evill ix. ⁋1 In the fauours of others or the good windes of fortune we haue no state or certainty, in our endeuours or abilities we haue. 1605― Adv. Learn. ii. xxi. §1 If wee mought haue a perpetuity and Certainty in our pleasures, the State of them would aduance their price.
†7. The height or chief stage of a process; the condition of full vigour. Chiefly Path., the crisis or ‘acme’ of disease. Obs. Cf. status 1.
1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts 342 To euery disease or malady, belongeth foure seuerall times, that is to say, the beginning, the increasing, the state, and declination. 1656Blount Glossogr., Catastasis, the third part of a Comedy, and signifies the state and full vigour of it. 1656Ridgley Pract. Physick 257 In the augmentation and the state, Cordials and such things as expel. 1665G. Harvey Adv. agst. Plague 11 At present it is in the Augment, and likely to attain to a state about the latter end of August. 1717J. Keill Anim. Oecon. (1738) 189 When all the peccant matter is thrown out, the disease generally proceeds to its state without any ill accident. 1913Dorland Med. Dict., State..the crisis or turning-point of an attack of disease.
†8.
a. Existence. to hold state, to continue or persist in being; to hold in state, to maintain in existence. to have state, to consist in (something).
a1300Cursor M. 314 His sun his wisdom es, þat wat All þinges, þat haldes stat [Gött. For all þe werld he haldis in state]. c1440Pallad. on Husb. xii. 599, xiij is thridde, and firthe in x hath state. 1447O. Bokenham Seynts, Magd. 756 If..god also my state so longe, Tyl yt be doon, vouchesaf to prolong. 1615Chapman Odyss. ii. 333 If dead I heare him, nor of more state [εἰ δέ κε τεθνηῶτος ἀκούσω µηδ' ἔτ' ἐόντος].
†b. ? A possibility, possible means. Obs.
a1300Cursor M. 14149 Quen þai sagh þat þar was nanoþer Stat o couering o þair broþer.
†9.
a. Stature, bodily form or contour. Obs. rare. (So L. status, OF. estat in Godefroy.)
1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) III. 223 Þere is no fairenesse of body wheþer it be in state [v.r. staat] of body as in schap of lengþe and brede [sive in statu corporis consistat, sicut est figura], oþer in meouynge as in song, but suche as þe inwitte of man deemeþ. 1538Elyot Dict., Habitus, the fourme or state of the body. 1623Fletcher & Rowley Maid in Mill v. ii, If't please ye (Madam) let me see the state of your body; I'll fit you instantly.
†b. A person's proper form, shape or nature. Obs. rare.
c1330Arthur & Merl. 2584 Þe king wiþ water þer he wesche, His owhen stat he hadde, ywis. a1550Freiris Berwik 475 in Dunbar's Poems (1893) 301 Him to translait or ellis dissagyiss Fra his awin kynd in-to ane vder stait.
†10.
a. A kind, sort or species. Obs. rare—1.
a1400–50Wars Alex. 5646 Þan with stanes of ilka state wall [? read was] þe stoure clustrid.
b. Bot. ‘A form or phase of a particular plant’ (Cent. Dict.).
1872Tuckerman Genera Lichenum 35 (Cent.) Sticta linita..was recognized as occurring in the United States by Delise,..and Dr. Nylander (Syn. p. 353) speaks of a state from Arctic America. 1900B. D. Jackson Gloss. Bot. Terms, State, the most trivial variation from the type.
11. Phrases.
†a. to hold no state of: to disregard, have no respect for. (Cf. F. faire état de, to set store by.) Obs.
a1300Cursor M. 13584 O godd him semes ha na perti þat haldes of hali-dai na stat.
†b. to make state (to do something): to expect (to do), count (on doing). [A mere Gallicism.]
1691d' Emiliane's Frauds Rom. Monks 56 Telling him, That he was an Abbot accurs'd of God; that Damnation would be his portion, and that all those who lived under his Conduct, might make State to go to Hell with him.
†c. in state, later in a state (now in a fit state) followed by infinitive: fit, likely, ready to do or be something. Cf. F. en état (de).
a1562Ld. Vaux Instab. Youth iv, Thou that didst saue the theefe in state to sterue. 1585T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. i. xv. 16 Hee had twoo faire daughters then beyng in state to be marryed. 1592Arden of Feversham iii. vi. 93 Your pretty tale beguiles the weary way; I would you were in state to tell it out. 1776Trial of Nundocomar 23/1 He has not for a long time been in a state able to go out of the house. 1789C. Smith Ethelinde IV. 192 She had a good deal of fever, and was not in a state to be removed. 1835I. Taylor Spir. Despot. vi. 244 To assume..that the political rulers of the body were still in a state to be spoiled. 1857Trollope Barchester T. xxxiv, He..went on thinking of her till he was almost in a state to drown himself in the little brook.
†12. Rhet. (after L. status). The point in question or debate between contending parties, as it emerges from their pleadings; the issue or main question. In full state of the cause, state of the plea. Obs.
c1450Holland Howlat 266 The circumstance and the stait all couth thai argewe. c1530Cox Rhet. (1899) 71 In these [judicial] oracions the fyrste is to fynde out the state of the cause, whiche is a short proposicion conteynynge the hole effect of all the controuersies. Ibid. 72 The state of the plee. 1549Latimer 5th Serm. bef. Edw. VI (Arb.) 134 margin, The scope or state of the boke, tendes to dysuade the kinge from hys supremycye. 1553T. Wilson Rhet. 47 b, Of the foundacion, or rather principall poincte in euery debated matter, called of the Rhetoricians the State, or constitucion of the Cause. Ibid. 48 b, A State therfore in matters of iudgement is that thyng whiche doeth arise vpon the first demaunde and denial made betwixt men... I cannot better terme it in Englishe than by the name of an issue. 1609R. Barnerd Faithf. Sheph. 20 The scope or principall intendment of the Holy Ghost in that place; from which scope ariseth the principall proposition, called of Rhetoricians the State, of Lawyers the Issue. 1611Cotgr., Estat..the state, head, issue, knot, principall point of a matter in controuersie. 1776B. Martin Bibl. Technol. (ed. 4) 129 margin, The several states of the cause.
13. Gram.
a. [= mod.L. status.] In the grammar of the Semitic langs., a noun is said to be in the construct state (or state of construction) when it governs a following genitive, and in the absolute state when it does not; the two ‘states’ being usually distinguished flexionally. In Aramaic grammar, a noun is in the emphatic (or, in some recent books, the definite) state when it has the suffix which originally served the purpose of a definite article, but in Syriac became unmeaning.
1752P. Petit Hebr. Guide, View Chaldaic 4 Nouns in an absolute state are sometimes found in the construct form, and vice versa, as in Hebrew. 1837G. Phillips Syriac Gram. 24 To the absolute and constructive state of nouns, which the Hebrews have, the Syrians add a third, the Definite. 1853P. H. Mason & Bernard Hebr. Gram. I. 100 A Noun in the State of Construction. 1874A. B. Davidson Introd. Hebr. Gram. 35.
†b. By some English grammarians of the 18th c., foregoing state or leading state and following state were used for the nominative and objective cases respectively, the term case being regarded as inapplicable to English. Obs.
1711J. Greenwood Ess. Pract. Eng. Gram. 104 The Pronouns have a twofold State... The first State we shall call the Foregoing State, as I, We; the second State we shall call the Following State, as Me, Us. 1809Lindley Murray Examined 5 What has, for ages, been called the nominative case, is by one Grammarian called the leading state.
c. positive state is used by Lindley Murray for ‘positive degree’.
1800L. Murray Engl. Gram. (ed. 6) 48.
14. a. Engraving. An impression taken from a plate at a particular stage of its progress and recognizable by special marks.
1874Ruskin Stones Ven. I. Pref. p. ix, The present edition..containing the best states of the old plates now procurable. 1899E. F. Benson Mammon & Co. vii. 97 Mrs. Siddons was a first state with the coveted blotted edge.
b. Bibliogr. (See quots. 1931.)
1931P. H. Muir Points 12 A word is still needed to describe changes made before any publication takes place. These changes may be made while the entire edition is still in the publisher's hands, they may take place at the printer's, at the binder's, or even at a stage intermediate between the issue of some of the review copies and the actual date of publication. Any differences that may arise before that time will be referred to as ‘states’. Ibid. 13 It is probable that copies of the book in all three states will be issued on the same day. They will all be ‘first issues’; but some will be first, some second, and others again third ‘states’ of the first edition. 1931G. Worthington Bibliogr. Waverley Novels p. viii, I have..decided to use the word ‘State’ whenever between two copies of a first edition there are differences of sufficient importance to be noticed; and my ‘First State’ is the variety which I believe to be preferable..to any other. Ibid. 37 Guy Mannering... There are four States of the first edition. 1949, etc. [see issue n. 15 b (ii)]. 1972Scholarly Publishing III. 123 The text was published almost simultaneously in English, French, and German, all with the same title. To distinguish between the various states and issues is nearly hopeless.
II. Status; high rank; pomp.
†15.
a. A person's condition or position in life; a person's natural, social or legal status, profession or calling, rank or degree. Obs.
c1290S. Eng. Leg. 98/212 Þench op-on þi noble stat, of alle Maidenes þov art flour. 1303R. Brunne Handl. Synne 1679 Ȝyf..þou art yn state of prest. c1330― Chron. Wace (Rolls) 11202 Wyþ hym, of Rome cam þe legat; And oþer bischopes of mener stat. 1399Langl. R. Redeles iii. 174 Ȝit blame I no burne to be, as him ouȝte, In comliche cloþinge as his statt axith. 1450Rolls of Parlt. V. 211/2 Any persone, beyng under state of Lorde. c1470Henry Wallace vi. 588 Quha best did than, he had the heast stait. 1538Starkey England 55 What so euer state, offyce, or degre, any man be of. 1549Bk. Comm. Prayer, Catechism, To doe my duetie in that state of life: vnto which it shal please God to cal me. 1601Barlow Serm. Paules Crosse 35 Could he..haue beene contented with his great state. a1616Beaumont To B. Jonson, 'Tis that which keeps our minds fit for our states. 1630E. Pagitt Christianogr. i. ii. (1636) 85 He..freed these Indians from slaverie and gave them the state of free men. 1741Kames Decis. Crt. Sess. 1730–52 (1799) 37 Having died in the state of apparency.
†b. A person's condition or status as determined by his years. man's state = manhood; cf. estate n. 1 b and L. phr. ad statum suum pervenire.
c1315Shoreham Poems i. 15 And hondred winter ȝef a leueþe, Þat his lyf mid þe lengeste. Onneþe creft eny þat stat. 1460–70Bk. Quintessence 15 Wiþinne a fewe dayes he schal so hool þat he schal fele him silf of þe statt and þe strenkþe of xl ȝeer; and he schal haue greet ioie þat he is come to þe statt of ȝongþe. c1475Henryson Poems III. 108 The state of youth I repute for na gude, For in that state sik perilis now I see. 1553T. Wilson Rhet. 118 When they come to mans state. 1579–80North Plutarch, Theseus (1595) 3 The yong men after their..growth to mans state.
c. Condition or status as married or single.
c1380Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 184 And to þes þree ben þre oþere, comyn and leeful bi Goddis lawe—state of virgyns, and state of wedloke, and þe state of widewis. 1712Steele Tatler No. 278 ⁋2 When I enter into a married State. 1812,1836[see single a. 8 b].
†16. contextually. A high rank or exalted position; an office of power or importance. Obs.
c1290S. Eng. Leg. 133/920 He..wole..bi-nime þe þi stat and perantur bringue þe out of londe. 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 1261 Þer vore ich bidde þat ich mowe mi stat holde þoru þe. 1338R. Brunne Chron. (1725) 73 Þe archbisshop Stigand, of Inglond primate, Þat tyme was suspended, þe pape reft him þe state. 1390Gower Conf. I. 260 And thus the man and noght the stat The Frensche schopen be her miht To grieve. 1544Betham Precepts War ii. xvi. K iij, That fault is augmented by the state and honour of the capitayne. a1586Sidney Arcadia iv. (1598) 401 The Queene, to whom besides the obedient duetie they ow'de to her state, they had alwayes caried a singular loue. 1605Bacon Adv. Learn i. To the King §1 The businesse of your Crowne and State. 1622J. Taylor (Water P.) Thief Wks. (1630) ii. 117/2 And many a mitred Pope and Cardinall This way haue got their state Pontificall. 1642D. Rogers Naaman 29 Forgetting his state, and being at the curtesie of the Prophet for his cure.
†b. In generalized sense: High rank, greatness, power. Obs.
c1400Destr. Troy 9099 Prinses, That most were of might & of mayn state. c1470Henry Wallace x. 274 We will nocht stryff for stayt. c1590Greene Fr. Bacon v. iii. 2027 Great Potentates, earths miracles for state. c1590Marlowe Faustus Chorus 4 In courts of Kings where state is ouer⁓turnd. 1608Chapman Byron's Consp. iv. i. 114 You make all state before Utterly obsolete. 1630Wadsworth Pres. Estate Spain 33 Don Alphonso..did Conquer Toledo,..and was the first King that established this Arch-Bishoprick, in this great state and estate. c1640Shirley Cont. Ajax & Ulysses (1659) 127 The glories of our blood and state.
†c. to bear (great) state, to hold (high) office; fig. (of a thing), to be of importance, involve great consequences. Obs.
a1300Cursor M. 6949 Bot quen aaron was ded, þe priste, His sun eliazar was neist, And bar state of his fader-hade. 1340Hampole Pr. Consc. i. 883 Emperour, kyng, duke, ne caysere, Ne other þat bers grete state here. 1613Shakes. Hen. VIII, ii. iv. 213 The question did at first so stagger me, Bearing a State of mighty moment in't, And consequence of dread.
†d. man of state: one of high rank or dignity. Cf. estate n. 3. Obs.
13..Guy Warw. (1891) 420 A man y was of state sum stounde, & holden a lord of gret mounde. 1338R. Brunne Chron. (1725) 258 Sir Hugh was man of state, he said as I salle rede. 1582Stanyhurst æneis etc. (Arb.) 129 Thee Prophet layeth downe an exhortation too theese men of state.
17. a. Costly and imposing display, such as befits persons of rank and wealth; splendour, magnificence (in manner of life, clothing, furniture, buildings, retinue, etc.); ‘solemn pomp, appearance of greatness’ (J.).
c1330Amis. & Amil. 1906 That riche douke..As a prince serued he wes, With riche coupes of gold: And that brought him to that state Stode bischet, withouten the gate, Wel sore of-hungred and cold. c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) vi. 22 Of his state and magestee I think to speke afterwardes. 1596Shakes. Merch. V. v. i. 95 A substitute shines brightly as a King Vntill a King be by, and then his state Empties it selfe, as doth an inland brooke Into the maine of waters. 1616–17in Crt. & Times Jas. I (1848) I. 466 Our new lord keeper goes with great state, having a world of followers put upon him. 1625Bacon Ess., Masques (Arb.) 540 Double Masques, one of Men, another of Ladies, addeth State, and Variety. 1639Fuller Holy War iv. viii. (1640) 182 Richard fortified Askelon.., not onely to strength but state, with marble pillars and statues. a1661― Worthies, Gen. ix. 24 The Brasen-Andirons stand only for state, to entertain the Eyes. a1700Evelyn Diary 22 July 1670, It does onely well in very small and trifling roomes, but takes from the state of greater. 1725Pope Odyss. vi. 46 In pomp ride forth; for pomp becomes the great, And Majesty derives a grace from State. 1728Law Serious Call ii. (1732) 20 Or remove him from a shop, to a life of state and pleasure. 1756–7tr. Keysler's Trav. (1760) IV. 468 The former duke..had fifty gentlemen of the bed-chamber; however that state could not have been kept up, had the salaries been on the same extravagant footing as in other courts. 1842Tennyson Ld. of Burleigh 32 Ancient homes of lord and lady, Built for pleasure and for state. 1848Dickens Dombey iii, It was a house of dismal state. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. iii. I. 354 The gilded coach, indeed, which is now annually admired by the crowd, was not yet a part of his state. 1915Eng. Hist. Rev. Jan. 168 The royal vault where he [Charles I] had been laid with so little state after his execution.
b. Phr. of state; as in bed or chair of state. Otherwise expressed by the attributive use (see 39); thus bed, rooms of state are = state-bed, state-rooms.
1503Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. II. 213 The Quenis gret bed of stait. 1593Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, i. i. 51 My Lords, looke where the sturdie Rebell sits, Euen in the Chayre of State. 1667Milton P.L. ii. 1 High on a Throne of Royal State. a1700Evelyn Diary 16 Oct. 1671, The chambers and roomes of state. 1786A. Adams Lett (1848) 296 Here, upon a superb bed of state, lay the remains of his Grace. 1865Kingsley Herew. xiv, The queen-countess sat in her chair of state in the midst. 1903A. Smellie Men of Covenant xix. 222 He rode in his carriage of state drawn by six horses.
transf.1579Spenser Sheph. Cal. Feb. 146 And his trees of state in compasse rownd.
c. in state: with great pomp and solemnity; with a great train; with splendid or honorific trappings and insignia.
to lie in state: of a dead body, to be ceremoniously exposed to view before interment.
1592Shakes. Rom. & Jul. i. iv. 70 And in this state she gallops night by night. 1687A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. i. 86 The Grand Signior..resolved to go through the City in State. 1700T. Brown Amusem. Ser. & Com. 93 See a Consult of them marching in State to a Patient. 1705Lond. Gaz. No. 4096/2 Her Majesty is to lie in State at Hanover. 1847C. Brontë J. Eyre ii, It was in this chamber he breathed his last; here he lay in state. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. i. I. 76 Abroad the ambassadors of Elizabeth and James went in state to the very worship which Elizabeth and James persecuted at home. 1883J. Gilmour Mongols xxiv. 295 Lamas in state coming to the temple.
18. a. Dignity of demeanour or presence; dignified appearance, stateliness of bearing. Now rare.
a1586Sidney Astroph. & Stella Song i. ii, Who hath the eyes which marrie state with pleasure! 1609B. Jonson Epicœne ii. i, This is not, onely, fit modestie in a Seruant, but good state, and discretion in a Master. 1642Fuller Holy & Prof. St. iii. vi. 164 True, there is a state sometimes in decent plainnesse. 1754Gray Progr. Poesy 39 In gliding state she wins her easy way. 1763Churchill Poems, Night 141 How many from appearance borrow state. 1808Scott Marm. v. xxxi, The Abbess, seeing strife was vain, Assumed her wonted state again—For much of state she had. 1822Lamb Elia Ser. i. Dream-Children, A great sulky pike hanging mid-way down the water in silent state. 1875Swinburne Ess. & Stud. 356 A sketch of Lucrezia seated with legs bare, perfect in shapeliness and state.
†b. Dignified observance of form or ceremony.
1604E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies vi. xii. 455 They observed one custome very great & full of state. 1642Fuller Holy & Prof. St. i. vii. 17 The lion out of state will not run whilst any one looks upon him. 1654― Two Serm. 52 He [God] reciteth downe mens Actions, not out of any necessitie to helpe himselfe to remember them; but partly out of State (as Ioseph made use of an Interpreter though understanding his Brothers language). 1671tr. Frejus' Voy. Mauritania 82 Although the King very well understood the interpretation of my Discourse given by Jacob Pariente, nevertheless, as a piece of State, Cheq Amar..repeated unto him the words.
19. Phrases.
a. to keep state, one's state: to observe the pomp and ceremony befitting a high position; to keep one's dignity, behave in a dignified manner. Now rare.
1599B. Jonson Cynthia's Rev. ii. iii, The woorst in her is want of keeping state, and to much descending into inferior and base offices. 1601Shakes. Jul. C. i. ii. 160 There was a Brutus once, that would haue brook'd Th' eternall Diuell to keepe his State in Rome, As easily as a King. 1625B. Jonson Staple of N. iii. i, Keep your state, stoupe only to the Infanta. 1652Nedham tr. Selden's Mare Cl. 82 Andronicus Palæologus, one that kept the State of an Emperor. 1818Scott Br. Lamm. xviii, But keep your ain state wi' them..they will think the mair o' ye. 1847Tennyson Princess iii. 213 O Vashti, noble Vashti! Summon'd out She kept her state.
†b. to take state upon one: to assume an appearance of grandeur or dignity; to affect superiority, give oneself airs; to be reserved and haughty. Obs.
1608Dod & Cleaver Expos. Prov. ix–x. 37 And yet she goeth not as an ordinarie strumpet,..but taketh state upon her like a courtizan. 1611Cotgr. s.v. Haultain, Faire le haultain, to be high in th' instup,..take state vpon him. a1635Sibbes Breathing after God (1639) 28 It is the nature of excellent things, except we desire them in the chiefe place, they take state upon them. 1660F. Brooke tr. Le Blanc's Trav. 29 A Portuguais, who took state upon him, his man still carrying after him a guilt sword. 1767Woman of Fashion II. 43 Now the pretty Fool takes State upon her, forsooth.
c. to hold one's state, to appear in pomp and splendour. arch. or Obs.
1613Shakes. Hen. VIII, v. ii. 24 The high promotion of his Grace of Canterbury, Who holds his State at dore 'mongst Purseuants, Pages, and Foot-boyes. a1806H. K. White To Morning v, The mists which on old Night await, Far to the west they hold their state. 1862‘F. G. Trafford’ City & Sub. iv, The Earls of Oxford had once held state [there].
†20.
a. A raised chair with a canopy, etc.; a throne; = chair of state in 17 b. (Cf. estate n. 4 d.) Obs.
1421Order of Guests in Q. Eliz. Acad. 89 The kyng off Scottes yn A State. c1435Torr. Portugal 1729 In to a state they hym brought. 1596Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, ii. iv. 416 This Chayre shall bee my State. a1700Evelyn Diary 4 May 1645, The Pope, sitting on an elevated state or throne. 1712Arbuthnot John Bull iii. i. 7 As she affected not the Grandeur of a State with a Canopy, she thought there was no Offence in an Elbow-Chair.
†b. A canopy. Obs.
a1626Bacon New Atl. 19 Over the Chair is a state made round or oval. 1648Herrick Hesper., Parl. Roses, Over the which a State was drawne Of Tiffanie, or Cob-web Lawne. 1656Harrington Oceana (1700) 121 At the upper end hangs a rich State overshadowing the greater part of a large Throne. 1667Milton P.L. x. 445. 1828 Scott F.M. Perth ix, The King had moved..to the cushioned chair, which, under a state or canopy, stood prepared for his accommodation.
III. A class, rank; a person of rank.
†21. A class, rank, order, sort or body of persons; a ‘condition’, profession, or occupation; the members of a class or profession collectively. Cf. estate n. 5 and F. état. Obs.
1340Ayenb. 122 Alsuo ase ine heuene heþ þri stages of uolke... In þo manere..heþ he þri states of godes zone ine erþe. c1380Wyclif Wks. (1880) 25 Generaly ypocrisie regneþ among alle statis of cristen men. c1425Cast. Persev. 3616 Lytyl & mekyl, þe more & þe les, all þe statis of þe werld is at myn renoun. a1568A. Scott Poems i. 170 Caus everye stait to þair vocatioun go. 1589Whip for Ape A 2, This iesting Jacke..With his Asse heeles presumes all States to strike. 1596Shirburn Ballads lx. 3 They comforted our ould men; they spared our feeble women; noe state they did abuse. 1625Bacon Ess., Greatness Kingd. (Arb.) 477 Neither is that State [illa pars populi]..to be passed ouer; I meane the State of Free Seruants and Attendants vpon Noblemen and Gentlemen.
†22. An order or class of persons regarded as part of the body politic and as participating in the government; an estate of the realm. Obs.
c1380Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 184 Þer ben in þe Chirche þre statis þat God haþe ordeyned; state of prestis, and state of knyȝtis, and þe þridd is staat of comunys. 1390Gower Conf. III. 379 Ther ys no staat in his degree That noughte to desire pes. 1399Rolls of Parlt. III. 451 Salvation and seurete of other States of the Reaume. c1450Holland Howlat 283 So that the Spirituale staite, And the secular consait, Mycht all gang in a gait. 1553Q. Jane in Strype Eccl. Mem. (1721) III. App. ii. 4 This our most lawful Possession of the Crown, with the free Consent of the Nobility of our Realm and other the States of the same. 1562Winȝet Wks. I. 5 The maist part of vs of the Eclesiasticall Stait. 1625Bacon Ess., Empire (Arb.) 305 For their Prelates;..The danger is not from that State, but where it hath a dependance of forraine Authority. 1641W. Hakewill Libertie Subj. 25 In full assembly of the three States. 1667–84E. Chamberlayne Pres. St. Eng. i. 241 All the subjects of England are divided into Clergy and Laity, the Laity subdivided into Nobility and Commonalty. These are called Ordines Regni, or the Three States. 1689Acts Parlt. Scotl. (1875) XII. 71/1 The vote þen stated whither ane or more of every state should be sent with the offer of the Crown and carried for one of every state. 1700Sir D. Hume Diary Parl. Scot. (Bannatyne Club) 3 Proceeded to chuse 9 of every State for the Committee of Security.
23. a. pl. (= F. états, Du. staaten, etc.) The ‘estates of the realm’ met to form a constitutional assembly; the princes, dukes, nobles, etc., together with the delegates or representatives of the several ranks, orders, chief cities, etc. of a country, assembled in a parliament or diet; e.g. in the United Netherlands (and the several provinces), France before the Revolution, Scotland before the Union, the Holy Roman Empire (and its several members), Hungary, Poland. Now only Hist., exc. as the title of the legislatures of Jersey and Guernsey. See also estate n. 6 b and States General.
In 16–17th c. ‘the States’ often means: the men at the head of affairs in the United Netherlands; the Dutch government as a European power.
1399Rolls of Parlt. III. 451/2 Byfore the Kyng and all the States in this present Parlement. 1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 109 Letters wrytten to the states of the Empyre. Ibid. 183 b, The .XXI. day of July the Princes and states [principes ac ordines] all go to themperoure. 1560Gresham in Burgon Life (1839) I. 298 They say playne here, that the States of the lande [the Low Countries] will never consent to have war with Ingland. 1578Cecil Papers (Hist. MSS. Comm.) II. 180 To remembre unto the States [sc. of the Netherlands] what aydes the Queen's Majesty hath alredy gyven them. 1587Acts Privy Counc. (N.S.) XIV. 306 An agreement made between the Erle of Leycester and the Deputies of the States of the United Provinces. 1618in Falle's Jersey (1694) 194 There shall be no Assembly of the States without the consent of the Governor. 1670R. Coke Disc. Trade 2 Who are the Dutch States? They who govern Trade in the United Netherlands. a1674Clarendon Hist. Reb. xii. §23 The States, especially those of Holland, let fall somewhat every day in their councils and consultations, that the King's residing in the Hague would be very inconvenient to them. 1682Warburton Hist. Guernsey (1822) 77 The assembly of the States is composed of the bailiff and jurats, the ministers of each parish, and the constables, who represent the rest of the inhabitants of their parish. 1768Sterne Sent. Journ. (1778) II. 55 (The Sword) When the states were assembled at Rennes. 1792A. Young Trav. France 105 To..appeal to the King to dissolve the states. 1804M. Laing Hist. Scot. III. 437 note, Had the committee of states [in Scotland, 1650] known the extent of the conspiracy,..it is not probable that they would have so easily forgiven the Start. 1828Tytler Hist. Scot. I. 68 The States of Scotland undertook, before receiving their queen, to find security to the King of England, that the said lady should not marry without his counsel and consent. 1844Ld. Brougham Brit. Const. iii. (1862) 54 The French States at no time attained the regularity of the English Parliament. 1845S. Austin Ranke's Hist. Ref. I. 133 The States of the empire gradually assembled in Lindau. 1862Ansted Channel Isl. iv. xxiii. 526 In Jersey, besides the Royal Court, there is only one Assembly. It is called the States... In Guernsey,..the States consist of two bodies, one called the Elective and the other the Deliberative States. 1915F. M. Hueffer When Blood is Argt. i. ii. 25 The Elector Frederick William III in 1701, in an assembly of the States, was accorded the title of King in Prussia.
†b. Delegates or members of the Dutch government as individuals. (Cf. 24, 25.) Obs.
1590Sir R. Williams Disc. Warre 55 Although our masters the States be for the most part honest and vertuous personages. 1607J. Chamberlain in Crt. & Times Jas. I (1848) I. 68 The States took their leave yesterday, and shall be presented with chains of five or six hundred crowns a-piece. 1618Sir D. Carleton Lett. (1775) 259 For his adjuncts..he will have four of the states, whereof two shall be of Holland,..one of Zealand, and one of Friesland. 1653in Nicholas Papers (Camden) II. 8, I have spoken with several of the States here touching their expediting an Ambassador into Germany. 1705Dunton Life & Errors (1818) I. 149 When there is any Synod called, two of the States are always present, to watch them that they may not meddle with the Government; and if the Clergy do but drop a word that has any reference that way, the States immediately cry, ‘Ho, la, Miin Heeren Predicanten!’ 1708Sewel Du.-Eng. Dict., Staat.., One of the States, a Representative of the Country. 1767S. Paterson Another Trav. I. 103 [Public canal-barge from Ostend to Bruges]. The cabin in the stern is always reserved for the states of the province and is therefore called the States-cabin.
†24. A person of standing, importance or high rank; a great man, personage, dignitary; a noble, lord, prince. (Cf. estate n. 3 c.) Obs.
c1400Beryn 404 The statis þat wer a-bove had of þe feyrest endreyte. c1400Song of Roland 22 With-in xvj days thedur he wille hym hye, and all the hethyn statis in his company. a1450Cov. Myst. 384 Owre worthy prynsis,..That are statis of this lond, hye men of degre. c1490Caxton Rule St. Benet 126 Yf we shulde make ony suggestion to a state temporall, we wolde not presume to doo it but with mekenes & reuerence. 1509Barclay Shyp of Folys (1570) 19 Some thinkes him selfe a gentleman or state Though he a knaue, caitiff, and bonde churle be. 1535Stewart Cron. Scot. I. 69 The grittest stait that wes in all that stound, In his bodie buir mony deidlie wound. 1549Latimer 4th Serm. bef. Edw. VI (Arb.) 126 Thys fayth is a great state, a Ladye, a Dutches. 1562J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 192 In sommer when states sit from fire in the coole. c1620Massinger Unnat. Combat iii. i, Our great Admirall With other States, being invited ghests. 1667Milton P.L. ii. 387 The bold design Pleas'd highly those infernal States.
†25. pl. The magnates, dignitaries or authorities of a town or district. Obs.
1421Coventry Leet Bk. 35 To the reuerent and wurschipfull states that her byn, and to all wurthy men of this grett Lete. c1440Gesta Rom. i. 3 When þe Meyre and þe statys sawe þis doyng. c1450Reg. Godstow Nunnery 659 To all statis and to the baillifs of Gloucestre. 1517in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 397 After the election of the Maior a Michalmas daye..all the stattes and worship[f]ull shall ffolowe the Mayor to his doore. 1609Holland Amm. Marcell. xxvii. vi. 315 He had given commandement that the States [marg. or principall Burgesses Ordines, or Senators] of three townes should be massacred.
†26. collect. sing.
a. The rulers, nobles, or great men of a realm; the government, ruling body, grand council, or court. Obs.
1581A. Hall Iliad iv. 64, I know ere long Troy shal to wracke, & Priam with his state Shal passe the sword. 1597Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, v. ii. 142 Our Coronation done, we will accite..all our State. 1604― Oth. i. ii. 96 The Duke himselfe, Or any of my Brothers of the State. 1606― Tr. & Cr. iv. ii. 69 Troy. Is it concluded so? æne. By Priam, and the generall state of Troy. They are at hand, and ready to effect it. 1612Bacon Ess., Judicature (Arb.) 458 It is an happy thing in a State, when Kings and States doe often consult with Iudges; and againe, when Iudges doe often consult with the King and State. 1617Moryson Itin. ii. 8 That Kingdome was..peaceable and quiet, (so as any the greatest Lord called by letter or messenger, readily came to the State there..). Ibid. 12 Sir Henrie Bagnoll, Marshall of Ireland, had formerly exhibited to the State diuers articles of treason practised by the Earle of Tyrone, who now would not come to the State without a protection.
†b. The governing body of a town; the city magnates collectively. (Cf. sense 25.) Obs.
1516in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 396 Every of the statte of this town, when they are warnid to come to the courte-housse, shall sit every man acording his degre and callinge. 1575in W. H. Turner Select. Rec. Oxford (1880) 377 Dysobedyens wch they have commytted agaynst Mr. Mayor and the state of thys Cytie. 1582Burgh Rec. in Campbell Kirk & Par. Kirkcaldy (1904) 63 Yat ye kirk dykes be putt upe and keepit at ye syt of ye steat and ye assemblie. c1648–50R. Brathwait Barnabees Jrnl. iii. (1818) 143 Thence to Kendall, pure her state is, Prudent too her magistrate is.
IV. ‘Common weal’; commonwealth, polity.
†27. The condition of the Church, a country, realm, etc. in regard to its welfare and polity. Sometimes, a condition of prosperity, of order and settled government. Obs. with any specific force.
So L. status rei publicæ, status civitatis, status ecclesiæ.
c1290S. Eng. Leg. 280/92, 93 He þouȝte þat þe stat of holi churche swuyþe i-febled were And þat cristine-dom in Manie studes in riȝt guod stat it nere. 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 10080 Þo þe king adde normandie in god stat ibrouȝt al. c1375Lay Folks Mass Bk. 361 Lord, þenk on þo state of holy kirk. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) V. 199 Þis Gracianus, whan he sigh þat þe staat of þe empere was almost afalle [L. statum rei publicae paene collapsum]. 1389in Eng. Gilds (1870) 71 Yei shul haue ye preyurs for ye pees and ye state of holy chirche. c1450Mirk's Festial 11 And also ȝe schull pray for þe state of all holy chyrch. c1450Reg. Godstow Nunnery 535 For the helth of the sowles of her lord Geffrey..and her, and for the state of the kyngdome of Englond. c1460Oseney Reg. 25 For þe state and welefare of all þe realme. 1549Bk. Com. Prayer, Commun., 127 b, Let us praie for the whole state of Christes churche. 1573Reg. Privy Council Scot. II. 271 And sall do nor attempt na thing..aganis the stait of the Christiane religioun publictlie precheit and establishit within this realme. 1587R. Crompton Short Decl. End Traytors E ij, Y⊇ great benefits & profittes which growe by y⊇ same [sc. law and justice] to the Common wealth & state of euerie kingdome. 1593Shakes. Rich. II, iv. i. 225 These grieuous Crymes, Committed by your Person, and your followers, Against the State, and Profit of this Land. 1594Kyd Cornelia Argt., Caesar (after he had ordred the affayres of Egipt and the state of Rome). a1600Hooker Eccl. Pol. viii. vi. §8 As now the state of the Church doth stand. 1651Hobbes Leviathan iv. xlv. 365 He [Romulus] would be propitious to the State of their new City.
†28.
a. A particular form of polity or government. the state, the form of government and constitution established in a country; e.g. the popular state, democracy (cf. F. état populaire). state royal: a monarchy. Obs.
1538Starkey England 56 Ther ys the veray and true commyn wele; ther ys the most prosperouse and perfayt state, that in any cuntrey, cyte, or towne, by pollycy and wysdom, may be stablyschyd and set. Ibid. 67 They..dow not only saue other wych be vnder the same gouernaunce and state, but also themselfe. 1551Robinson tr. More's Utopia (1895) 13 (title) A fruteful and pleasaunt worke of the beste state of a publyque weale. 1555Ridley Err. Transubst. (1556) 55 Yt beganne to subuerte Christes gospell, and to turne the state that Christ and his Apostles sett in the church, vpside down. 1630S. Lennard tr. Charron's Wisd. i. xviii. (1670) 66 We may compare man to a Commonweal, and the state of the soul to a state-royal. a1680Butler Char., Republican (1908) 24 And therefore 'tis probable, the State of Venice would be no more the same in any other Country, if introduced, than their Trade of Glassmaking. 1701Swift Contests Nobles & Commons ii. Misc. (1711) 19 Theseus is the first who is Recorded..to have establish'd the Popular State in Athens.
†b. A republic, non-monarchical commonwealth. Obs.
1656Waller To Evelyn 2 Lucretius, with a stork-like fate, Born and translated in a State, Comes to proclaim in English verse No Monarch rules the universe. 1651Hobbes Leviathan iv. xlv. 365 When Augustus Cæsar changed the State into a Monarchy. 1673Dryden Amboyna Prol. 22 Well, Monarchys may own Religions name, But States are Atheists in their very frame.
†c. transf. Applied to a University. Obs.
c1590Greene Fr. Bacon i. ii. 177 Now Maisters of our Academicke State, That rule in Oxford Vizroies in your place.
29. a. the state: the body politic as organized for supreme civil rule and government; the political organization which is the basis of civil government (either generally and abstractly, or in a particular country); hence, the supreme civil power and government vested in a country or nation.
1538Starkey England 48 The kyng, prynce, and rular of the state... The gouernance of the commynalty and polytyke state... He or they wych haue authoryte apon the hole state. Ibid. 53 Whether the state of the commynalty be gouernyd by a prynce, by certayn wyse men, or by the hole multytude. 1590in Cath. Rec. Soc. Publ. V. 179 For the better understanding of the trewthe of matters agenst her Maiestie and the Stayte. 1594[see pillar n. 3 b]. 1617Moryson Itin. ii. 17 Which may concerne the good of the State. a1618Raleigh Rem. (1644) 2 State is the frame or set order of a Common-wealth, or of the Governours that rule the same, especially of the chief and Sovereign Governour that commandeth the rest. The State or Sovereignty consisteth in five points. 1. Making or annulling of Laws. 1622Bacon Hen. VII 8 As one that hauing beene somtimes an Enimie to the whole State, and a Proscribed person. 1681Dryden Abs. & Achit. i. 174 Resolv'd to Ruine or to Rule the State. 1697― Virg. Georg. iv. 229 All is the State's, the State provides for all. 1834Arnold in Stanley Life (1844) I. vii. 376 The State, being the only power sovereign over human life, has for its legitimate object the happiness of its people. 1879M. Arnold Democracy Mixed Ess. 42 The State is properly..the nation in its collective and corporate capacity. 1884Spencer (title) The Man versus the State. 1891C. Lowe in 19th Cent. Dec. 858 The railways..in Prussia are now all in the hands of the State.
fig.1598Shakes. Merry W. v. v. 245 In Loue, the heauens themselues do guide the state.
b. distinguished from ‘the church’ or ecclesiastical organization and authority. In the phr. church and state the article is dropped.
1589Whip for Ape A 3 b, That is, destroy both Church, and State, and all. 1650in Sir J. Balfour's Ann. (1825) IV. 146 At last, quhen nather kirke nor staite did giue ther concurrence therin, he deserted the counsailles of the kingdome. a1674Clarendon Hist. Reb. xii. §27 To preserve and maintain the government of Church and State in that kingdom as it is established by the laws thereof. 1761Gray Sketch 6 He..left Church and State to Charles Townshend and Squire. 1844Lingard Anglo-Sax. Ch. (1858) I. ii. 91 In addition to the rank and rights which the bishop held in the church, he also derived..important privileges from the state. 1864Tennyson North. Farmer, Old Style iv, I hallus voäted wi' Squoire an' choorch an' staäte.
30. a. A body of people occupying a defined territory and organized under a sovereign government. Hence occas. the territory occupied by such a body.
1568Grafton Chron. II. 760 Such a pestilent Serpent is ambition,..which among states where he once entereth, creepeth so farre forth, till with diuision and variaunce he turneth all to mischiefe. 1587R. Crompton Short Decl. End Traytors E ij, For there is no Common wealth, state, or societie of man kind, that can continue, where there is not superiority or preheminence in gouernment. 1625Bacon Ess., Greatness Kingd. (Arb.) 481 Never any State was..so open to receive Strangers, into their Body, as were the Romans. 1673Temple Observ. United Prov. ii. 75 Each of these Provinces is likewise composed of many little States or Cities, which have several marks of Soveraign Power within themselves, and are not subject to the Soveraignty of their Province. 1705Addison Italy Pref., Lassels may be useful in giving us the Names of such Writers as haue treated of the seueral States through which he pass'd. 1769Robertson Chas. V, v. iii. Wks. 1851 III. 523 The Italian states were no less desirous of peace than the pope. 1781Sir W. Jones Ode in Imit. Alcæus 1 What constitutes a State? 1841W. Spalding Italy III. 351 The state of Parma, formed of the three duchies of Parma, Piacenza, and Guastalla, is divided into five provinces. 1844H. H. Wilson Brit. India II. 458 Those compacts which had been formed by the English,..with the independent native States. 1880Encycl. Brit. XIII. 190/2 The theory of international law contemplates the world as divided into independent states... States are sovereign within their own territories, independent of other states, and equal as between themselves.
¶b. Used (from similarity of sound) to render G. stadt, city.
1800Coleridge Death Wallenstein iii. vii. 69 Say, shall we have the State illuminated In honour of the Swede?
31. a. The territory, or one of the territories, ruled by a particular sovereign. hereditary states: spec. (= G. Erbstaaten) the kingdoms or principalities held hereditarily by any head of the Holy Roman Empire.
1602Chettle Hoffman iv. (1631) H 4, Since neyther Ferdinand, nor Saxony, Haue any heires, to sway their seuerall states; Ile work what lies in me to make thee Duke. 1845S. Austin Ranke's Hist. Ref. I. 89 The emperor was driven out of his hereditary states, and wandered about the other parts of the empire as a fugitive.
b. pl. (Hist.) Applied (? after It. stati) to the cities and territories included in an Italian principality or republic, esp. the grand-duchy of Tuscany and the republic of Venice. Also in States of the Church, Papal States (also sing.), titles of the former temporal dominions in Italy of the Holy See.
1797Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XV. 381/1 Pope's Dominions, or Ecclesiastical States, a country of Italy, bounded on the north by the gulph of Venice [etc.]. 1828[H. Best] Italy as it is 357 Less persecution has taken place in the States of the Church than in any other state. 1831J. Conder Italy I. 19 note, The states of Parma consist of the dutchy of that name and the territories of Placentia and Guastalla. 1840Penny Cycl. XVII. 195 Papal State, Stato Pontificio, called also stato della Chiesa. 1851Mrs. Browning Casa Guidi Wind. i. 1062 Which..our Florence in her prime Turned boldly on all comers to her states. 1857J. Bright in G. M. Trevelyan Life (1913) 257, I would rather spend three months in the United States of America than in the States of the Church.
c. One of a number of polities, each more or less sovereign and independent in regard to internal affairs, which together make up a supreme federal government; as in the United States of America or the Commonwealth of Australia.
1634Mass. Bay Rec. (1853) I. 117 When I shalbe called to give my voice touching any such matter of this state, wherein ffreemen are to deale, [etc.]. 1774Jefferson Writ. (1892) I. 420 A proper device (instead of arms) for the American states united would be the Father presenting the bundle of rods to his son. 1776A. Adams in Fam. Lett. (1876) 204 Thus ends royal authority in this State [Massachusetts]. 1777A. Hamilton Wks. (1886) VII. 487 A treaty..between the Court of France and the States of America. 1816Wheaton Cases Supreme Crt. U.S. I. 91 A citizen of a territory cannot sue a citizen of a state, in the courts of the United States. 1851Dixon W. Penn. xxi. (1872) 183 This colony was the beginning of a state. 1901Empire Rev. I. 443 The governors of Australian colonies, or states as they are now called.
d. the States: the United States of America.
1777J. Adams in Fam. Lett. (1876) 301 The enemy are in possession of the Head of Elk,..in which they found a quantity of corn and oats belonging to the States. 1856Mrs. Browning Aur. Leigh v, Delia Dobbs, the lecturer from ‘the States’ Upon the ‘Woman's Question’. 1890A. Lang Sir Stafford Northcote II. 25 He thus found himself a prophet in the States, if not in his own country.
32. (Without article.) All that concerns the government or ruling power of a country; the sphere of supreme political power and administration. The adjectival phr. of state (= F. d'état, It. di stato) is otherwise expressed by the attributive use (see 38). † in state, in the sphere of government or politics.
reason of state: see reason n.1 5 b. Secretary of State (Gt. Britain and U.S.): see secretary n.1 3. Department of State (U.S.): see department 3 b; formerly † Office of State.
1582Allen Martyrdom Campion (1908) 9 To alter the question from controversie in religion to the cause of the Prince and matter of state. 1591Harington Orlando Apol. Poetrie ⁋vj, How much good matter, yea and matter of state, is there in that Comedie cald the play of the Cards? 1600E. Blount tr. Conestaggio 6 According vnto reason of State. 1601Shakes. Twel. N. ii. v. 164 Let thy tongue tang arguments of state. 1612Bacon Ess., Reg. Health (Arb.) 59 It is a secret both in nature and state, that it is safer to change many things then one. 1625N. Carpenter Geogr. Delin. ii. xiv. (1635) 243, I speake here onely of matters of state and policy. 1651Hobbes Leviathan iv. xlv. 365 The Supreme Power both in State, and Religion. 1673Temple Observ. United Prov. ii. 101 The Council of State is composed of Deputies from the several Provinces. 1694(title) Letters of State, written by Mr. John Milton to most of the Sovereign Princes and Republicks of Europe. 1708Swift Sentim. Ch. Eng. Man Wks. 1755 II. i. 72, I believe it may pass for a maxim in state, that the administration cannot be placed in too few hands, nor the legislature in too many. 1795Burke Regic. Peace iv. Sel. Wks. III. 344 The Ministers of State and the Judges of the Bench. Ibid. 345 They were made an affair of state. 1796Washington Lett. Writ. (1892) XIII. 213 From the office of State you will receive every thing that relates to business. 1845Disraeli Sybil v. viii, She was on her way to Bow Street to be examined as a prisoner of state. 1878Disraeli in Times 11 Nov. 10/4 My Lord Mayor, I have observed that the month of October is often rife with high secrets of State.
33. a. Short for state-letter (see 41). ? Obs.
a1879Sir R. Hill Life (1880) II. 107 Sorting out the letters for Government and foreign ambassadors resident in London, letters technically called ‘States’.
b. Short for State Department (sense 41 a below). U.S.
1955W. Tucker Wild Talent xi. 151 Somebody down at State had to soothe his ruffled feelings. 1971R. Ludlum Scarlatti Inheritance i. ii. 18 It took an executive order from the President to get it out of State. 1979H. Kissinger White House Years ii. 29 The new President wanted to change the negotiating instructions on Vietnam drafted at State that reflected the approach of the previous Administration.
c. Preceded by the name of a State: short for state university (sense 38 e below).
1928Time 29 Oct. 28/3 Penn mauled Penn State, 14–0. 1975J. Wyllie Butterfly Flood (1977) xxiv. 177, I can outswim you any time at all. I used to swim for Penn State. 1980‘R. B. Dominic’ Attending Physician ii. 11 Two students in Ohio State sweatshirts.
V. Interest in property; possessions.
†34. Law.
a. The interest which any one has in a property; right or title to property; = estate 11.
1439E.E. Wills (1882) 115, I..bequeth..to þe saide Iohn my wyfe, the termys and state comyng of & in all the tenement. c1450Reg. Godstow Nunnery 613 Aliz wynnynge..surrendred to þe Abbas & couent of Godestowe all þe state, þat she had of the same Abbas & couent. 1502Will of J. Hutton (Somerset Ho.) Lond..in the which I haue a state. 1523Fitzherb. Surv. 15 b, Where they haue no state of inherytaunce. 1596Spenser F.Q. v. xi. 3 He..bad Deliuer him his owne,..To which they had no right, nor any wrongfull state. 1621Burton Anat. Mel. iii. ii. v. v. (1624) 455 State of liues in coppy holds. 1660R. Coke Power & Subj. 25 Do or Dedi, to A. and the heires of his body lawfully begotten,..creates a state taile.
fig.1616B. Jonson Epigr. lxx, He makes a state In life, that can employ it.
†b. to make a state (of property) to (a person): to give a legal right or title to. Also (without of): to make a (specified or understood) gift, grant or settlement. (Cf. estate n. 11 b.)
1445Test. Ebor. (Surtees) II. 155, I require my seid feffes..that they make a state of the Maner of Kirklyngton vnto Elizabeth Chaworth. c1445in Oxf. Stud. Soc. & Legal Hist. (1914) IV. 194 Without any state maide to the saide personez so named Feffes of the saide landez and tenementz. 1455Rolls of Parlt. V. 306/1 Eny Advousons or Patronages in which eny persone or persones..have enfeoffed us, or yerof made eny Graunte or state unto us. 1521Test. Ebor. (Surtees) VI. 5 That my said feoffes make a state to the saide William Vescy of all my landes in Cateby. 1541Ibid. 135, I will that my heres make alway a newe state at the ende of xxj yeres agayne to ane honeste preste to singe [etc.]. 1559Boke Presidentes 53 b, There is no maner of states made of free lande by pol deede, or dede indented, but ther may be made the same of copy landes by copy. 1606Chapman Gentl. Usher iii. ii. 40 What state hath your lord made you for your service?
†35. Law.
a. Possession (of property); as to give, deliver, receive state and seisin. Chiefly Sc. Obs.
1338R. Brunne Chron. (1725) 83 Kyng Steuen..þat withouten reson Of þis land had þe state, & conquered þe coroun. 1461Paston Lett. II. 37 That whan I com homwar I mygh..mak seson and stat to be take whil I wer ther. 1501Reg. Privy Seal Scot. I. 107/2 Quhill the lauchful are or aeris..recover lachfull state, sessing and possessioun. 1520Perth Hammermen Bk. (1889) 13 Item till Constantine Arthur for the staits giffin of the annuels and for his travell to Sanct Androis at the command of the Craft. 1524Q. Margaret in St. Papers Hen. VIII, IV. 112 To schawe His Grace how and in quhat maner We haf downe in this Parliament, and yat ye Kyng my sone is put to his stayt and governans be all his Lordis and Barrowns wyth his Prelattis and Commouns. 1606Reg. Mag. Sig. Scot. 662/2, I will and chairgis yow..ye delyver staitt and seasing [etc.]. 1710in Nairne Peerage Evid. (1874) 45 And there give and deliver heritable state and sasine actuall reall and corporall possession of the foresaid. 1765–8Erskine Inst. Law Scot. ii. iii. §35 Lastly, The vassal..takes instruments in the hand of the notary, before witnesses, that he hath received state and seisin of the lands in due form.
†b. to put in state: to put (a person) in possession (of). to be in state, to be seised (of).
1474Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. I. 4 To put his sone and ayre in state of his landis. 1531Abstr. Protocols Town Clerks Glasgow (1897) IV. 28 George Elquhistoune, beand in stait of the said land.
†c. in state: held in (a person's) ownership or possession. Obs.
1592Arden of Feversham i. 467 The lands are his in state. Ibid. 484 So as he shall wishe the Abby lands Had rested still within their former state.
†36. Property, possessions; one's private means; = estate n. 12. Obs.
13..Sir Beues 3483 Now haþ Beues al is stat. c1430Lydg. Min. Poems 212 Ne were the plough no staat myght endure, The large feeldys shulde be bareyn. 1500–20Dunbar Poems lxvi. 37 The temporall stait to gryp and gather, The sone disheris wald the father. 1598Shakes. Merry W. iii. iv. 5 My state being gall'd with my expence. 1612Bacon Ess., Riches (Arb.) 240 A great state left to an heire, is as a lure to al the birds of prey round about, to seise on him. 1634W. Wood New Eng. Prosp. (1865) 61 There are some noble spirits that devote their states, and their persons, to the common good of their king and country. 1694Wood Life (O.H.S.) III. 448 He kept his coach and horses, and had no visible state. 1790Mrs. Wheeler Westmld. Dial. 75 Yee kna heeas a Staat, an nae daut will be for a girt Portion. 1899Cumberld. Gloss., 'State, the land or property of a statesman.
VI. A statement. (? Partly from state v.)
†37.
a. A statement, account, description, report (of a transaction, events, a legal case, etc.). Obs. in general use (partly superseded by statement).
c1611Chapman Iliad xv. 33 This frighted the offending Queene, who, with this state, excusde Her kind vnkindnesse. c1643in 13th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. iv. 281 [Notes on the] State of the Tynfarmers' Case. 1647Clarendon Hist. Reb. ii. §123 The next error to this was, that at the meeting of the Great Council at York..there was not a state made, and information given, of the whole proceedings in Scotland. 1657in Burton's Diary (1828) II. 62 You have had a fair state of the case by this honourable person. 1751H. Walpole Mem. Geo. II (1822) I. 55 Sir Henry Erskine then presented his charge against General Anstruther, which he called only a state of his own case. 1772Ann. Reg. *76 He wrote a long state of the whole transaction..to the court of Petersburg. 1791Boswell Johnson (1816) III. 425 His state of the evidence as to the ghost did not satisfy me. 1802M. Edgeworth Moral T., Forester xii, Convinced of the woman's innocence, he had drawn up a state of her case. 1805(title) State, Leslie of Powis, &c. 1814Scott Wav. li, Waverley therefore wrote a short state of what had happened, to his uncle and father.
†b. A detailed enumeration or report of particulars or items; esp. a statement of items of cost or outlay, of actual or estimated expenses. (Cf. state v. 7 d.) Obs.
1671R. Montagu in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.) I. 505 The King command[ed] Mr. de Louvoy to make a state of the expense of the war. 1673Temple Observ. United Prov. ii. 102 Towards the end of every year, this Council forms a state of the Expence they conceive will be necessary for the year ensuing. 1691T. H[ale] Acc. New Invent. 28 A more strict and Annual State to be had of all their respective Hulls, Masts, and Yards. 1701Evelyn Diary 27 Jan., I laid before the Speaker the state of what had ben receiv'd and paid towards the building of Greenwich Hospital. 1727[W. Pulteney] (title) A state of the national debt as it stood Dec. 24, 1716. 1785Burke Sp. Nabob of Arcot's Debts Wks. 1842 I. 342 Possibly at the time of the chairman's state they might have been as high. 1786Jefferson Writ. (1859) II. 61 They..have asked me to procure a state of the advantages of that place. 1788Gibbon Decl. & F. lx. VI. 173 note, We are indebted to him [Ramusio] for a correct state of the [Venetian] fleet. 1805Forsyth Beauties Scot. III. 281 That the commerce has..been gradually increasing here [Glasgow], will appear from the following states. 1818Scott Rob Roy xxiv, He..sate down to examine Mr. Owen's states, which the other thought it most prudent to communicate to him without reserve.
c. Mil. A report of the numbers of a corps, regiment, etc. in the field, with details of casualties.
1802C. James Milit. Dict. s.v., A weekly state of a regiment,..The difference between the state of a corps or detachment, and a mere return of the same, consists in this, that the former comprehends the specific casualties, &c. that have occurred. 1813Wellington in Gurwood Desp. (1838) X. 569 If your Lordship will do me the favor..to look over the morning states which I send every week to the Secretary of State. 1854Bennett in Kinglake's Crimea (1877) VI. App. 499 The..officer whose duty it was to make out the duty ‘States’. 1863Kinglake Crimea II. 237 note, The ‘morning state’..gives as present under arms (without including the cavalry, of which there was no ‘state’) a total of 26,004 officers and men. 1889Infantry Drill 451 The commander-in-chief..will himself deliver a state of the troops to that Royal Personage. 1915Times 5 Apr. 4/2 The parade state showed that 61 officers and 975 rank and file took part in the march.
†d. state of a vote: the framing or putting a question in the form in which it is to be voted upon. (Cf. state v. 7 e.) Sc. Obs.
1701Sir D. Hume Diary Parl. Scot. (Bannatyne Club) 44 After a long debate about these two states, moved it might be put to the vote, Which of these two should be the vote. 1703Ibid. 101 Then Salton proposed the state of a vote, Whether to give the Act for the Cess a first reading, or to proceed to make Acts for the Security of our Religion, Liberties, and some added, Trade. 1758Smollett Hist. Eng. (1759) IX. 315.
VII. attrib. and Comb.
38. Attributive uses of senses 29–32.
a. in sense: Of or belonging to the State, body politic, or civil government; made by, issuing from the State; employed by, in the service of, the State; recognized, supported or enforced by the State. Often equivalent to ‘of state’ (sense 32).
1491Cartular. S. Nich. Aberdon. (New Spalding Club) I. 255 Gife yai be..occupiet in Stet erandis. 1605Shakes. Oth. i. iii. 190 Pleese it your Grace, on to the State Affaires. 1612Selden Illustr. Drayton's Poly-olb. xvi. 253 Such as were receiued into State-fauour and friendship by the Roman. 1634Ford Perk. Warbeck ii. ii, A State-Informers Character. 1667Milton P.L. i. 775 They..expatiate and confer Thir State affairs. 1690Sir W. Temple Misc. ii. Ess. Poetry 58 So many Pretenders to Business and State-Imployments. 1700Evelyn Diary 24 Apr., This weeke there was a greate change of State Officers. 1755Johnson, s.v. Pension, In England it is generally understood to mean pay given to a state hireling for treason to his country. 1775Lond. Chron. 23–25 May 495/1 In the last State Lottery there were only 81 prizes above 100 l. 1828[H. Best] Italy as it is 427 The supporters of state religions are shrewdly suspected, too, of holding that one religion is as good as another. 1836Thirlwall Greece xxv. III. 390 On his return to Catana he found there the state-galley, the Salaminia. 1859Mill Liberty 190 The objections which are urged with reason against State education. 1860Pusey Min. Proph. 34 Jeroboam made a state-worship at Bethel. 1881E. W. Hamilton Diary 5 June (1972) I. 144 It is certainly a great misfortune that the three foremost men on the front Opposition bench should be dependent on State aid. 1885State school [see real a.2 10]. 1886Encycl. Brit. XX. 241/1 The State Railways of India. 1892Bk. Comm. Prayer 1662, Publ. Pref. 8 The titles of..the three State Services [sc. those for 5 Nov., 30 Jan., 29 May]. 1905Act 5 Edw. VII, c. 19 (title) The construction.. of Railways in India, by State Agency, or through the Agency of Companies. 1917A. S. Neill Dominie Dismissed ii. 27 Our rulers..send the rest of the sons of the community to State schools where they are trained to be disciplined and content with their lot. 1937Discovery Oct. 305/2 State aid..might ultimately be the only hope of British agriculture. 1943Koestler Arrival & Departure iv. 165 State-bureaucracies and managers establish themselves in vital hedgehog positions. 1944Wyndham Lewis Let. 20 Aug. (1963) 378 But Stalin has a working state-system, with the air purged of humbug. 1948J. Towster Political Theory in U.S.S.R. iii. 42 The Party..was not yet equipped to substitute collective-farm and state-farm production for kulak production. 1972Listener 23 Nov. 690/2 With the inevitable rise in food prices..the Government..[should] introduce state subsidies to stabilise prices. a1974R. Crossman Diaries (1975) I. 351 If he stays in the state system—in the village school and then in Banbury. 1977B. Freemantle Charlie Muffin iv. 43 Had she been born in a council house..and attended a state school..Janet would have been a slag.
b. In a wider or generalized sense: Relating to politics or the art of government; concerned with or depending on political considerations.
Very common in the 17th c.; sometimes with unfavourable implication, e.g. of crafty or tortuous or time-serving policy.
c1610Beaum. & Fl. Philaster i. i, My ignorance in state policy. 1623Donne Serm. xviii. (1640) 177 State Divinity, that obeyes affections of persons. 1637–50Row Hist. Kirk (Wodrow Soc.) 399 It seemeth to be als well aganis State⁓wisdome as it is evidentlie aganis religion. 1649Milton Eikon. xv. 141 Had he as well known how to distinguish between..the wholsome heat of well Governing, and the feverous rage of Tyrannizing, his judgment in State-physic, had bin of more autoritie. 1655Fuller Ch. Hist. ix. 181 The State Historian. 1661R. Davenport City Nightcap iii. 29 My Lord would have made an excellent state-sophister. 1678Cudworth Intell. Syst. i. v. 692 That Religion is nothing but a meer State-juggle and political imposture. 1680Butler Rem. (1759) II. 59 A State-Quack, that..vapours what Cures he could do on the Body politic. c1681Duke Review 83 That new state-maxim he invented first. a1700Evelyn Diary 2 Oct. 1685, Upon some politic and state reasons. 1709Steele Tatler No. 11 ⁋3 Mr. D{ddd}y generally writes State-Plays. 1711Addison Spect. No. 105 ⁋6 The State-Pedant is wrapt up in News, and lost in Politicks. 1742Young Nt. Th. viii. 344 How curious to contemplate two state-rooks, Studious their nests to feather in a trice. 1755Dict. Arts & Sci. s.v. Sibyls, it is the opinion of Prideaux, that the story of the three books of the sibyls, sold to Tarquin, was a state-trick or fetch of politics. 1757Monitor No. 79. II. 265 The languid commonwealth..which has been almost brought to its last gasp, under the cruel hands of our late state-quacks. 1809–10Coleridge Friend (1865) 131 The venerable state-moralist. 1827Hare Guesses Ser. i. (1873) 198 Our statequacks of late years haue thought fit to style themselues Radical Reformers. 1832J. A. Heraud Voy. & Mem. Midshipman iii. (1837) 52 No doubt a state-necessity, or a state-expediency, might be made out, for the purpose of producing an apparent uniformity in religious worship. 1909Hibbert Jrnl. Jan. 434 The statecraft and state-morality of China and Japan.
†c. with reference to affected solemnity of countenance, as of one ostensibly burdened by secrets of state. Obs.
1611B. Jonson Challenge at Tilt Wks. (1616) 998 There shall not the greatest pretender, to a state-face, liuing, put on a more supercilious looke then I will doe vpon you. 1639H. Glapthorne Wallenstein ii. ii, You must not then accost her..in the Spanish garbe, with a state face. 1728Swift Dial. Mad Mullinix & Timothy 50 Thy screw'd-up front, thy state-grimace.
d. with reference to offences against the State and their punishment; as state-crime, state-criminal, state-offence, state-offender, state-prisoner, state-trial.
1642Fuller Holy & Prof. St. v. ix. 391 This State-sinne Jehu must commit to maintain his kingdome. 1682Dryden Duke of Guise v. i, Where no ambition, nor state-crime, the happier spirits prove. 1692Sir B. Shower Reasons New Bill Rights 6 What Harm can accrue to the Publick..that in Case of State Treason Councel should be allowed to the Accused. 1726Swift Gulliver i. vii, Having in my life perused many state-trials, which I ever observed to terminate as the judges thought fit to direct. 1766Smollett Trav. II. 227 The isles Marguerites, where state-prisoners are confined. 1798Helen M. Williams Tour Switz. I. 122 A castle, which is the northern bastile of the canton of Berne for state-offenders. 1837Carlyle Fr. Rev. III. i. vi, As for the Orléans Prisoners, they are State Criminals. 1839Lytton Richelieu ii. i. 70 Who ever Heard of its being a state-offence to kiss The hand of one's own wife. 1886C. E. Pascoe Lond. To-day xxvii. (ed. 3) 255 The little Chapel..was long used by the state prisoners in the Tower. 1893Baddeley Joanna I of Naples 4 His just indignation at this state-crime.
e. U.S. Of or belonging to a State of the Union.
For numerous other attrib. uses see D.A.E. and D.A.
1780A. Adams in Fam. Lett. (1876) 388 Our State affairs are thus. 1784Acts & Laws Connecticut 219 The Law relating to the gathering and collecting the State Rates. 1790M. Cutler in Life, Jrnls. & Corr. (1888) I. 460 Congress are still on the question, whether the State debts shall be assumed. 1831J. M. Peck Guide for Emigrants 256 One sixth part is to be..bestowed on a state college or university. a1857Michigan Gen. Statutes (1882) I. 171 The board of state auditors are hereby authorized..to procure plans, drawings and estimates for a state capitol. 1885State park [see land-jobbing s.v. land n.1 12]. 1888Bryce Amer. Commw. II. xliv. 153 As the frame of a State government generally resembles the National government, so a State legislature resembles Congress. 1925L. S. Dunaway What Preacher Saw 81 Jeff Davis declared that the ground on which the new state capitol was constructed was ‘too poor for two Irishmen to raise a row on!’ 1941N.Y. Times Mag. 26 Jan. 19/3 Police work forms only part of the State trooper's duties. 1952Mind LXI. 471 Suppose we then see him in earnest conversation with a scout from the state university. 1964M. Banton Policeman in Community iv. 94 Many of the State police forces again are very different. The men wear big hats like the Canadian mounties and concentrate upon highway patrol. 1969C. Burke God is Beautiful, Man (1970) 30 They took a trip to a place that looked like a state park. 1976National Observer (U.S.) 1 May b5/4 The bulk of the newly admitted enjoyed a style of training, in junior and state colleges, little superior to that of the high school. 1976A. Price War Game i. ix. 173 He's a New Englander... He left his state university nine years ago.
39. (Attributive use of sense 17.) Belonging to, employed on, reserved for, occasions of state or ceremony; accompanied with pomp and ceremony; richly or splendidly decorated, furnished, etc. (Equivalent to ‘of state’: see 17 b). Also state-room.
1549Latimer 4th Serm. bef. Edw. VI (Arb.) 126 As Chryste when he counterfayted a state goyng to Hierusalem. 1591Sylvester Du Bartas i. vi. 472 Under starry State-Clothes. 1609Markham Famous Wh. (1868) 22 State-chambers richly deckt and furnished. 1615Chapman Odyss. iv. 171 She tooke her State-chaire. 1664–5Pepys Diary 21 Mar., A couple of state cups, very large, coming, I suppose, each to about {pstlg}6 a piece. 1704Acc. Innov. Abp. Dublin 17 The Governments Chaplains always Preach'd upon State-days. 1761Brit. Mag. II. 602 Their Majesties last, in the old state-coach. 1812H. & J. Smith Rej. Addr., Macbeth Trav. (1852) 173 King Duncan, in grand majesty, Has got my state-bed for a snooze. 1835Dickens Sk. Boz, Mr. Watkins Tottle ii, Referring to the gold watch, which was wound up on state occasions, whether it required it or not. 1843Fairholt Ld. Mayors' Pageants 152 These courts were held in the state barge. 1846Dickens Pictures from Italy 74 A public promenade, where..the Genoese nobility ride round, and round, and round, in state-clothes and coaches. 1846Mrs. Gore Engl. Char. (1852) 111 A state-coachman is one of the most prominent embodyings of national character in the metropolis. 1855Timbs Curios. Lond. 686 The State Carriage now used by the sovereign. 1858Simmonds Dict. Trade, State-bed, an elaborately carved or decorated bed. 1883Mrs. Armytage Old Court Customs 178 Court or state balls are given during the season. 1915Times 26 Mar. 11/4 Lord Wimborne has fixed April 14 for his State entry into Dublin.
40. Objective and instrumental uses of sense 29.
a. objective.
1598T. Rogers Celest. Elegies D 2 in Lamport Garl. (Roxb.), To royall princes and State-ruling peeres. 1600W. Watson Decacordon (1602) 152 Knowing themselues most innocent of all state-medlings. 16012nd Pt. Return fr. Parnass. iii. i, Such busie state-prying fellowes. 1627May Lucan i. B 1, State-changing comets dire. 1629H. Burton Babel no Bethel Ded. 5 Imposters, state-treachers, troublers, and betrayers. 1657Flatman Cordial 11, I care not what your state confounders do. 1735Thomson Liberty iii. 468 All the state wielding magick of his tongue. 1768–74Tucker Lt. Nat. (1834) I. 391 The state-mending citizen. 1792Ld. Westmorland in Lecky's Hist. Eng. 18th C. (1887) VI. 531 The present Statemaking mania of the world. 1913Engl. Rev. Jan. 284 The Mongols are not state-builders.
b. instrumental, chiefly with pa. pples.
1616J. Lane Contn. Sqr.'s T. ix. 288 Th' prize of state-caused strife. 1650B. Discolliminium 8 They have gotten some yeers on their back, and are able to make a profession of some State-establishment. 1833J. S. Mill in Jurist IV. 14 Let the State endowments be once withdrawn from the church of England. 1842Miall in Nonconf. II. 193 An authorised, a state-provisioned clergy. 1842J. S. Mill in Morning Chron. 13 Jan. 3/6 If an established church is not to be independent of state control, no established church ought to exist. 1848in A. Prentice Tour in U.S. viii. 76 A real, state-paid bishop, whilome a minister of the Scotch Relief Kirk. 1856Geo. Eliot in Westm. Rev. X. 64 Its patent machinery of state-appointed functionaries. 1872Yeats Growth Comm. 58 The poor citizens..became state-fed paupers. 1876Fortn. Rev. 1 Apr. 630 Proof that, as the Katheder-Socialisten maintain in Germany, the part of state-intervention will go on steadily increasing. 1882M. Arnold Irish Ess. 97 State-aided elementary schools. 1887G. B. Shaw Let. 8 June (1965) I. 173 The sweeping away of our..wicked workhouse prisons in favour of State-owned farms and factories. 1891H. Spencer Justice 270 Under the existing system of ownership, those who manage the land, experience a direct connexion between effort and benefit; while, were it under State-ownership, those who managed it would experience no such direct connexion. 1897Westm. Gaz. 3 Sept. 8/1 The very atmosphere of State-ridden Germany is fast becoming unbreathable to English lungs. 1899W. S. Churchill in Morning Post 6 Dec. 5/7 There will be those who will dream another dream of a brave system of State-aided—almost State-compelled—emigration. 1901Edin. Rev. Apr. 453 In Germany we have seen a State-paid clergy help to create and keep on foot the great parliamentary party of the Centre. 1912W. B. Selbie Nonconformity xii. 226 The principle of the State establishment of religion. 1926H. Sheehy-Skeffington Let. 15 Feb. in Lett. of Sean O'Casey (1975) I. 168 In no country save in Ireland could a State-subsidized theatre presume on popular patience. 1927Carr-Saunders & Jones Social Structure Eng. & Wales 148 To complete the tale of State-provided benefits that school children may receive. 1927A. Huxley Proper Studies 220 In most modern countries the only state-supported orthodoxy is a sexual orthodoxy. 1942Contemp. Jewish Rec. V. 274 The state-controlled Kolkhoz or Sovkhos systems in Soviet Russia. 1946J. W. Day Harvest Adventure xviii. 301 No National Park or State-planned ‘lung’ could offer lovelier scenery so near a manufacturing area. 1946State-run [see private a. 4 d]. 1952C. P. Blacker Eugenics: Galton & After 185 France has a Minister for Population and a state-sponsored National Institute of Demographic Studies. 1958A. Quinton in Victorian Stud. I. 254 [T. H.] Green's defence of state intervention is now generally recognised as an important intellectual preparation for the British Labour Party. 1973Listener 17 May 635/1 That section of the Left which wants greater equality without a massive increase in state ownership. 1977N.Y. Rev. Bks. 31 Mar. 22/3 On state control of industry, the pivotal socialist issue, he had no consistent views. 1978S. Sheldon Bloodline iv. 69 He borrowed money on the real jewelry from the Crédit Municipal, the state-owned pawnshop. 1979Jrnl. R. Soc. Arts CXXVII. 125/2 There was now state-aided scientific research.
41. a. Special comb.: state-cabin = state-room 2, 3 (cf. states-cabin, quot. 1767, 23 b); state capitalism, a system of socialism whereby the State exerts exclusive control over a substantial proportion of the means of production, and over the deployment of capital created by this; hence state-capitalist, -capitalistic adjs.; state-centred a., that centres on the State; state-church, a church established by the state; hence state-churchism, -churchman; State Council, the highest administrative and executive body of the People's Republic of China; State Department U.S., the federal department for foreign affairs, presided over by the Secretary of State, = Department of State s.v. department n. 3 b; State Enrolled Nurse, a nurse enrolled on a State register and having a qualification lower than that of a State Registered Nurse; † state-fallen a., fallen from high estate; state-letter, a letter written officially by a secretary of state; † state-like a., stately, magnificent; state line U.S., the boundary line of a State; † state-making, conveyance of an estate (see 34 b); state-oriented a., directed towards the State; state-paper, an official document in which some matter concerning the government or the nation is published or expounded; also attrib. in State Paper Office; state-prayers, the prayers for the king and royal family in the order for morning and evening prayer; state-prison, (a) a prison for political offenders (cf. 38 d); (b) U.S. and Austral., a prison maintained by a State for the penal confinement of criminals; in U.S. also state's prison; state-quake jocular, a convulsion of the state; State Registered Nurse, a nurse enrolled on a State register, and better qualified than a State Enrolled Nurse; State rights, the rights and powers vested in the separate States under the Federal constitution of the U.S.A. and other federal nations; also attrib.; State Scholarship, a scholarship awarded by the State for study at a university; state secret, a matter kept secret by the government; jocularly, an important secret; state socialism, socialism achieved by State ownership of public utilities and industry; hence state socialist a. and n.; state-socialistic a.; state-statue nonce-wd., a mere image of a statesman; state vector Physics, a vector in a space whose dimensions correspond to all the independent wave-functions of a system, the instantaneous value of the vector conveying all possible information about the state of the system at that instant; state visit, a visit by a head of state to a foreign country for ceremonial rather than official purposes; also fig.; † state-ward, one's post as ‘watchman for the state’; state-wide a., of, pertaining to, or extending over a whole state (usu. in sense 31 c; occas. sense 30); also as adv.; † statewise adv., in regard to the State.
1760–72H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) III. 85 Going down to the *state-cabin. 1838Civil Engin. & Arch. Jrnl. I. 167/2 Each side [of the saloon is] occupied with State cabins.
1903D. Modell tr. P. Kropotkin's Mod. Science & Anarchism x. 94 Anarchism cannot see in the next coming revolution a mere exchange of monetary symbols for labor-checks, or an exchange of present Capitalism for *State-capitalism. 1928E. & C. Paul tr. Stalin's Leninism 436 The left-wing communists were of opinion that State capitalism is incompatible with the system of the proletarian dictatorship. 1978Ld. Hailsham Dilemma of Democracy xvii. 110 Modern capitalism is the state capitalism of the Coal Board, British Rail or the Post Office.
1965B. Pearce tr. Preobrazhensky's New Economics 153 In the Entente countries the economic system of the war period was *state-capitalist to a considerably smaller extent.
1945Koestler Yogi & Commissar iii. iii. 201 Soviet Russia is a *State-Capitalistic totalitarian autocracy.
1957K. A. Wittfogel Oriental Despotism 33 The *state-centered system of land grants as it prevailed in early China. 1977Dædalus Summer 53 Is the state-centered concept of international politics..still relevant to the age of interdependence?
1726Trapp Popery i. 63 They call our church and Religion, a *State-Church, and Religion. 1888Schaff Hist. Chr. Ch., Mod. Chr. i. 83 Christianity flourishes best without a state-church.
1862R. Vaughan Nonconformity 391 *State-churchism in any form was not in logical accordance with the leading principle of their polity.
1845Miall in Nonconf. V. 397 Government officials, who, of course, will be *state-churchmen to a man.
1969Plano & Olton Internat. Relations Dict. 179 *State Council, the highest executive decision-making body of the state apparatus, comparable to the Council of Ministers in the Soviet Union. 1978tr. Documents 1st Sess. 5th National Congr. People's Republic of China 153 The State Council is the Central People's Government and the executive organ of the highest organ of state power.
1790Deb. Congress U.S. 1 Apr. (1834) 1505 The resolution laid on the table yesterday, respecting the *State Department. 1836in Ann. Rep. Amer. Hist. Assoc. 1907 (1908) II. 117 This morning..I went to the State Department, to have a conference with the present Acting Secretary of State. 1930Times (Weekly ed.) 9 Jan. 35/1 On the eve of its meeting the State Department published the New Year greetings exchanged between King George and President Hoover. 1970E. Snow Red China Today (new ed.) 26 Under pressure he had himself made a State Department-accredited ‘correspondent’. 1978R. Ludlum Holcroft Covenant iii. 41 ‘It's the State Department. For you.’ ‘State? This is Lieutenant Miles, NYPA police.’
1961Nursing Mirror & Midwives' Jrnl. 23 June 1143/2 The lettering on badges and certificates of existing State Enrolled Assistant Nurses will not be altered when the title is changed to *State Enrolled Nurse as from June 28 this year. 1974Encycl. Brit. Macropædia XIII. 399/1 Legislation in 1960 changed the title of a less qualified grade from state-enrolled assistant nurse to state-enrolled nurse.
1845E. Warburton Crescent & Cross II. 287 Every thing about this *state-fallen prince wore an appearance of poverty and sadness.
1692Post Office patent to T. Neale 17 Feb. (MS.) All letters commonly called *State letters which are usually carried Postage ffree here in England shall pass free thorow all our Plantations and Iselands. 1738Birch Life Milton Wks. 1738 I. 59 Besides the Works already mentioned, he was prevail'd upon..to get his State-Letters transcrib'd.
1659W. Chamberlayne Pharronida i. 38 A magestick Vest Of *state-like red.
1783Virginia Gaz. 20 Dec. 2/3 George R. Clark, Surveyor *State Line. 1868Harper's Mag. June 123/2 He pronounced ‘good-by’ to the Prairie State, at the State line. 1973R. L. Simon Big Fix (1974) xviii. 132, I was..driving into a desert dawn. I had already crossed the state line.
1487Rolls of Parlt. VI. 394/1 By means of any Feoffeement, *State makyng or Relees.
1961Encounter Sept. 24/1 The political self-consciousness of the individual citizen is *State-oriented.
1740S. Haynes (title) A Collection of *State Papers. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. ii. I. 172 No man wrote abler state papers. 1915H. Jenkinson Palaeogr. 4 Almost at the same time [temp. Hen. VII] appears a new class of Administration..the Department, the Office of the Secretary of State; whose Records are State Papers, with, very soon, a special home of their own in the State Paper Office.
1831W. L. Bowles Life Bp. Ken II. 246 Even at Long-Leat, the *state-prayers, as they were called, disturbed his mind, so as to prevent his attending the chapel.
1723Blackmore Alfred x. 365 Judg'd Guilty and condemn'd they were convey'd To the *State Prisons. 1828–32Webster s.v. Prison, We have state-prisons, for the confinement of criminals by way of punishment. 1832G. Downes Lett. Cont. Countries I. 158 Out in the lake is a state-prison called the Wellenberg. 1867C. H. Pearson in Brodrick Ess. Reform 193 They..are filling the State prisons in Victoria and New South Wales.
1645*State-quake [see church-quake]. 1655Fuller Ch. Hist. ix. 130 Untill it hath vented itself with a State-quake of those countries. 1766H. Walpole Let. to G. Montagu 12 Dec., We have had..many grumbles of a state-quake.
1920Nursing Mirror & Midwives' Jrnl. 17 July 270/1 A Bill for the State Registration of Nurses was drafted by the College in which it was provided that..all the nurses on the College Register would automatically become *State-registered nurses without further fee. 1965D. Edwards-Rees Story of Nursing vi. 66 From 1925 onwards the only way for a new-comer to become a state-registered nurse was to take a three-year course and to pass the state examination at the end of it. 1977P. Hill Liars ix. 117 On the mantelshelf were pictures..one..of Rose in the full uniform of a State Registered Nurse.
1798Debates in Congress 21 June (1851) 2022 The powers of our general Government are checked by *State rights. 1846S. M. Maury Statesmen Amer. 370 The struggle which ended in the triumph of the State rights party. 1890C. L. Norton Polit. Americanisms 109 State Rights. The political creed which favours the retention of independent powers by individual States as opposed to ‘Centralization’. 1907W. S. Churchill in R. S. Churchill Winston S. Churchill (1969) II. Compan. i. 627 A more practical explanation of any inconsistency in the attitude of the States is to be found in the growing cleavage upon the question of State rights versus Federal authority. 1930W. K. Hancock Australia vi. 121 In truth, Australian public opinion (even that section of it which is disposed to favour ‘State rights’) has only a fitful, ineffective interest in maintaining the Federal balance.
1944Ann. Reg. 1943 63 *State Scholarships to universities should be of such a value as to enable the holder to take full part in the life of the university. 1966Rep. Comm. Inquiry Univ. Oxf. II. 27 Source of financial assistance... A college scholarship or exhibition and a State Scholarship or LEA award.
1822Galt Provost xlvi, I told it to Mrs. Pawkie as a *state secret. 1831Scott Ct. Rob. xxix, It was considered as a state secret of the greatest importance.
1879G. J. Holyoake in 19th Cent. June 1114 *State socialism is one of the diseases of despotism. Ibid., State Socialism, so far as any taste for it exists in England, is a growth of Toryism. 1930W. K. Hancock Australia vii. 137 Mr. Eggleston says that the Victorians are destroying their State socialism by political sabotage. 1968H. W. Laidler Hist. Socialism xliii. 739 The social legislation of Bismarck has often been referred to as state socialism.
1879G. J. Holyoake in 19th Cent. 1116 True co-operators are no *State Socialists. 1912State socialist [see radical n. 5 a]. 1968H. W. Laidler Hist. Socialism xliii. 742 Mr. Hillquit's distinction between government ownership and collective ownership..was..the distinction made between the state socialist and the democratic socialist approach.
1879G. J. Holyoake in 19th Cent. 1115 The only persons in this country likely to be suspected of the *State Socialistic craze are the working class co-operators.
1613Shakes. Hen. VIII, i. ii. 88 If we shall stand still, In feare our motion will be mock'd, or carp'd at, We should take roote here, where we sit, or sit *State-Statues onely.
1929Condon & Morse Quantum Mechanics vi. 205 The components of the *state vector along the different principal axes multiplied by their complex conjugates give the probabilities of each value for the state in question. 1951Physical Rev. LXXXII. 914/1 Quantum mechanics involves two distinct sets of hypotheses—the general mathematical scheme of linear operators and state vectors with its associated probability interpretation and the commutation relations and equations of motion for specific dynamical systems. 1970D. T. Gillespie Quantum Mechanics Primer iv. 41 The state of the system is completely described by the state vector in the sense that anything which is in principle knowable about the system at time t can be learned from the function Ψt(x).
1794H. Wilson Let. 12 Apr. in Fingall Papers (Nat. Libr. Ireland MS. 8023(5)), I think your resolution as to a certain complimentory *State Visit is perfectly correct, both as to yourself and your Lady. 1857C. M. Yonge Dynevor Terrace I. xiv. 218 On Monday we go to Leffingham... After that, more state visits, unless I can escape to Oxford. 1914W. Owen Let. 1 Jan. (1967) 225, I had to buy a waistcoat today, to complete the black suit: for the State Visit to Mr. Aumont which French Politeness imposes. 1966Listener 23 June 900/2 President de Gaulle arrives in Moscow for twelve-day state visit. 1979G. St. Aubyn Edward VII vii. 320 He [sc. the King]..decided that he wished to pay a State Visit abroad.
a1625Fletcher Bloody Bro. iv. i, I, ist so? at your *stateward, sir? [Cf. infra, A watchman for the State].
1911C. E. Persons et al. Labor Laws 62 A *state-wide organization was sufficient to bring the necessary pressure to bear. 1927[see rodeo 3 b]. 1948J. Towster Political Power in U.S.S.R. iv. 86 Maximum unification of all economic activity by one state-wide plan. 1954W. Faulkner Fable 189 A horde of Federal agents and sheriffs and special officers like the converging packs of a state- or nation-wide foxhunt. 1974Hartsville (S. Carolina) Messenger 2 Apr. 2-a/5 The American Patriot Reading Club will offer youngsters statewide the opportunity to become better acquainted with the men, women, places and events, which have been prominent in the history of our state and the nation. 1980News & Observer (Raleigh, N. Carolina) 28 Oct. 22/3 That immunization of cats against rabies be required statewide, and that the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission be permitted to hunt and trap foxes for rabies control.
1642Bridge Wound. Consc. Cured §2. 17 It is lawfull for the Subjects considered *statewise to rayse an army to defend themselves.
b. Combinations of the genitive or pl.: State's attorney U.S., a lawyer commissioned to represent the State in the courts, esp. in criminal actions; state's evidence: see evidence n. 7 c; states-folk, † (a) persons of (great) estate or position; (b) dial. yeomen-farmers, owners of small estates (cf. statesman1 2); states-people dial. = prec. (b); States rights = State rights in sense a; hence States-righter, an advocate of States rights in the U.S. or other federal nations; states-system (tr. G. staaten-system), the federation of a number of states with the object of preserving the actual balance of power.
1809Kendall Trav. III. 251 There is in Vermont..an attorney-general, or, as it is called, a *states attorney, for each particular county. 1906W. Walker Calvin xii. 335 The prosecution now fell into the charge of the states-attorney of the city, Claude Rigot, a friend of Calvin.
1727Swift Gulliver, Let. Capt. Gulliver, I see myself accused of reflecting upon great *States-Folk. 1902Pall Mall Mag. Sept. 53 The statesfolk too, and the townsfolk—true, a worshipful company!
1887Caine Deemster iii, The robustious *states-people from twenty miles around.
1858Hamilton Sp. 27 Oct. (Bartlett), Having been all my life..an ardent ‘*States-rights’ man.
1948States' Rights (Birmingham, Alabama) 26 July 1/1 *States' Righters is all right, but the term, ‘Dixiecrats’, leaves the wrong impression. 1959Times Lit. Suppl. 28 Aug. 491/3 It undoubtedly rallied every states-righter and virtually every Southerner, however progressive, behind Governor Faubus. 1972Accountant 30 Mar. 405/2 Mr Macaw is regarded as a devout ‘States-righter’, who is firmly opposed to the creation of any Federal body to control the securities industry [in Australia].
1834tr. Heeren's Man. Hist. Polit. Syst. Europe I. Pref. p. vii, The history of any particular *states-system (by which we mean the union of several contiguous states, resembling each other in their manners, religion, and degree of social improvement, and cemented together by a reciprocity of interests). 1864Bryce Holy Rom. Emp. xix. (1876) 340 The Peace of Westphalia is the first..of those attempts to reconstruct by diplomacy the European states-system which have played so large a part in modern history.
▪ II. † state, a.1 Obs. rare—1.
[ad. L. status, pa. pple. of sistĕre to place, set.]
= stated ppl. a.
1581J. Bell Haddon's Answ. Osor. 313 Neither doe we enforce any person to state tymes of the yeare [orig. nec statis temporum præscriptis quenquam astringimus]. Ibid. 323 The long processe therfore that you made of state feasts, and other gaddyng holydayes in y⊇ yeare [Quæ igitur de consecratis anni temporibus, & festorum distributione hactenus commemorasti].
▪ III. † state, a.2 or quasi-adv. Obs. rare—1.
[? After state n. attrib.]
(See quot.)
1579Spenser Sheph. Cal. Sept. 45 They..bearen the cragge so stiffe and so state [gloss. stoutely].
▪ IV. state, v.|steɪt|
Also 7 Sc. steat.
[f. state n.]
1. trans. To place, station. rare.
c1590Marlowe Jew of Malta ii, The Christian Ile of Rhodes, from whence you came, Was lately lost, and you were stated here To be at deadly enmity with Turkes. a1734North Exam. iii. vii. §8 (1740) 510 The capital Practice in the Court of King's Bench, wherein he was stated before he had any Preferment. 1742De Foe's Tour Gt. Brit. (ed. 3) II. 129 As the Court is now stated, all the Offices and Places for Business are scatter'd about, here and there. 1845Bailey Festus i. (ed. 2) 5 Some vast temptation calmly comes And states itself before it, like the sun Low looming in the west.
†b. In pass., of a quality: To reside, inhere in a subject. Obs.
1678Barclay Apol. vii. vii. 216 The Adjective [Just]..signifies a Man..in whom this Quality of Justice is stated.
†2. To give a certain rank or position to, to rank; also in pass., to have a position, to be ranked. Obs.
1592Arden of Feversham iii. v. 84, I haue neglected matters of import That would have stated me aboue thy state. 1631R. H. Arraignm. Whole Creature Ep. Ded., Some of you are in a high manner, and all of You in some sort seated and stated. 1632Heywood 2nd Pt. Iron Age iv. i, Shall hee inioy my birth-right, or inherite Where I am heire apparant?..where I am stated, sit? 1669Penn No Cross no Crown i. ix. §31 (1857) 122 The aspiring fallen angels, that affected to be greater and better than they were made and stated by the great Lord of all. a1715Burnet Own Time iii. xiii. (1900) II. 314 The two religions, popish and protestant, were so equally stated in his mind, that a few grains of loyalty..turned the balance with him.
†b. ? To assign a value to, have an opinion upon. Obs.
1671Milton Samson 424 Thou didst plead Divine impulsion prompting how thou might'st Find some occasion to infest our Foes. I state not that; this I am sure, our Foes Found soon occasion [etc.].
†c. With complement: To constitute, to give (a person) the status of. Sc. Obs.
1689in Sc. Acts (1875) XII. 58/2 That..The clerks should not be allowed to call the Earle of Selkirk before him least þat myght steat him ane petitorie.
†3. To place in a specified condition; in early use chiefly to settle, place in safety or quiet. Obs.
1605B. Jonson Volpone iii. ix, On which [violence done to his parent] the Law should take sufficient hold, And you be stated in a double hope. 1628Feltham Resolves ii. lii. 152 Then, the soule stated in a deepe repose, bewrayed her true affections. 1640Shirley Constant Maid ii. ii, My next work Shall be..To state her body in that modest temper She was possessed of. 1642Fuller Holy & Prof. St. ii. x. 90 An excellent Chirurgeon he was at joynting of a broken soul, and at stating of a doubtfull conscience. 1654H. L'Estrange Chas. I (1655) 53 This answer of the Duke to his impeachment..seemed to state him in impunity. c1681T. Hunt Def. Charter Lond. 37 Which put many thousand Persons well stated to starving. 1685Cotton tr. Montaigne I. 495, I see nowhere..a house more nobly and constantly maintain'd than his, happy in this to have stated his affairs to so just a proportion, that his estate is sufficient to do it without his care or trouble. 1722De Foe Plague (1756) 142, I mean especially, as you and I are stated, without a Dwelling-House of our own. 1786A. Gib Sacred Contempl. i. iv. 147 His will was stated in a wicked contradiction to the authority and will of God.
†b. To bring about (a state of things). Obs.
1654J. Owen Saints Persev. viii. §16. 197 Take a Cyon..bind it on as close as possible, yet 'tis not united to the Tree, untill the Sappe..be communicated to it, which communication states the union.
4. To place, install in a dignity, office, right, etc.
1617Middleton & Rowley Fair Quarrel i. i, Heere you boaste to mee Of a great reuenew, a large substance Wherein you would endow & state my daughter. 1625Gill Sacred Philos. iv. 35 In which right, If He had not fully stated man-kind, then had the benefit of His purchase beene utterly lost. 1648J. Beaumont Psyche ix. xcix, No Proxy He, nor stated in his Might Barely by Patent, but by Native Right. 1651Baxter Inf. Bapt. 24 Either members must be baptized at their admission, or else after they are stated in the Church. 1654in Burton's Diary (1828) I. 81 To state him in the right of disposing of the forces.
†b. To confer or settle (a possession, right, etc.) upon, vest in a person, etc. Obs.
1633Bp. Hall Hard Texts Eph. i. 14 Untill that purchased possession of eternall life may be fully accomplished and stated upon us. 1638R. Brathwait Barnabees Jrnl. iii. (1818) 101 These [i.e. the Little Gidding community] hold and walke together wholly, And state their lands on uses holy. a1641Bp. R. Montagu Acts & Mon. (1642) 107 The Scepter..was not stated upon them of the Tribe of Iudah. 1678Sanderson 9 Cases 104, I acknowledge the Soveraign Power of this Nation..to be rightly stated in the House of Commons.
†5. To set in state, to treat with ceremony of state. Obs.
1613Heywood Braz. Age ii. ii, Oh you Gods! or make her mine, Stated with vs the Calidonian Queene. 1622Bacon Hen. VII, 80 For shee was not onely publikely contracted, but stated as a Bride, and solemnly Bedded. a1625Fletcher Noble Gent. iii. i, 'Twill be rarely strange To see him stated thus, as though he went A shroving through the City.
†b. to state it: to affect the attributes of rank; to go or live in state. Obs.
1631J. Taylor (Water P.) Sudden Turn Fortunes Wheel (1848) 23 Nassau,..you did gather The fearfull rebells into warlike bands, Who now do state it in the Netherlands. 1655Fuller Ch. Hist. v. xvi. 178 Wolsey began to state it at York as high as ever before. 1663Killigrew Pars. Wedding iii. v, These Gentlemen are quickly satisfi'd; what an ugly Whore they have got! how she states it!
†6. To settle, or regulate, by authority. Obs.
1647Ward Simp. Cobler 28, I seriously feare, if the pious Parliament doe not finde a time to state fashions,..God will hardly finde a time to state Religion or Peace. 1699Plea agst. Price of Corn 16 Suppose, for instance in the Southern parts of England,..Corn were stated at 5s. per Bushel for Wheat. 1714in Hist. Northfield (Mass.) (1875) 133 The said Committee are further impowered to state the place of the town upon small lots so as it may be made defensible.
†b. ? To fix, make dependent upon. Obs.
1671J. Livingstone Let. 7 Oct. in Sel. Biogr. (Wodrow Soc. 1845) I. 242 Persecution [is] bended against all who go not alongs in that apostacie and perjury; and is not, then, suffering stated on as important a quarrel as ever was since the foundation of the world? 1692South Serm. (1697) I. 14 One of the grand duties of which [sc. Religion] is stated upon Repentance.
7. To set out (a question, problem, etc.) in proper form; spec. in Logic.
a1641Bp. R. Montagu Acts & Mon. (1642) 110 First the question is not rightly stated in the Conclusion. 1662Jer. Taylor Via Intell. 8 We find by a sad experience, that few Questions are well stated. 1680Dryden Ovid's Ep. Pref., To state it fairly; imitation of an author is the most advantageous way for a translator to show himself, [etc.]. 1795Gentl. Mag. LXV. ii. 543/2 Permit me to state a few queries to your Correspondents in general. 1826Whately Logic i. i. §2 (1827) 24 An argument thus stated regularly and at full length, is called a Syllogism. 1869J. Martineau Ess. II. 6 A problem must be stated in order to be solved. 1883Manch. Guard. 22 Oct. 5/3 The question is surely one which, stated in this way, needs no answer.
b. Arith. (See quot. 1740.)
1740Dyche & Pardon Dict. (ed. 3), State v...in Arithmetick, it is the arranging numbers in such order, that the question may be truly answered. 1797Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) II. 302 (Compound Proportion), The above question may therefore be stated and wrought as follows: Men 18:24::6 bolls [etc.]... In general, state the several particulars on which the question depends, as so many simple proportions, [etc.].
c. to state a case: to set out the facts of a matter or pleading for consideration by a court. Said of a pleader or advocate; also of a court when allowing an appeal from its own judgement; also gen.
1692Cal. Treas. Papers 265 Mr. Lowndes to state his case to be laid before the King. 1710Addison Whig-Exam. No. 5 ⁋3, I must observe, that the Advocates for this doctrine have stated the case in the softest and most palatable terms that it will bear. 1857Act 20 & 21 Vict. c. 43 §4 If the..justices be of opinion that the application is merely frivolous..they may refuse to state a case. 1879Act 42 & 43 Vict. c. 49 § 33 Any person aggrieved who desires to question a conviction..of a court of summary jurisdiction..may apply to such court to state a special case.
d. to state an account or state accounts: to set down formally the debits and credits arising in a course of business transactions. Also fig.
1648Heylin Relat. & Observ. i. 83 About the beginning of March, was given to Col. Sydenham and Col. Bingham 1000 l. apiece, as part of their Arrears; their Accounts not yet stated. c1685Cal. Treas. Papers 16 To be referred to Mr. Surveyor to state y⊇ accompt and examine y⊇ bills and report it to y⊇ Lords Commissioners. 1690Jrnls. Ho. Lords XIV. 606/1 An Act for appointing and enabling Commissioners to examine, take, and state, the Public Accompts of the Kingdom. 1712Arbuthnot John Bull i. xi, John spent several Weeks in looking over his Bills, and by comparing and stating his Accompts he discovered, that..he had been egregiously Cheated. 1718Freethinker No. 33 ⁋9 After this, when he finds himself most in Temper, let him coolly state the Accompts of his Love, by computing..the Profits and the Losses, arising from it.
†e. to state a vote, state a question: to frame a question in the form in which it is intended to vote upon it. Sc.
1700Sir D. Hume Diary Parl. Scot. (Bannatyne Club) 9 And then the vote came to be stated, Whether the Parliament should proceed to the Sheriff's procedure, or the Lords' their coming in, under these words Lords or Sheriff. Carried by one vote Sheriffs. Ibid. 33 Then the question was offered to be stated To allow the exportation..or Not. a1712Fountainhall Decis. (1759) II. 420 Then the vote was stated, If Sir Andrew Kennedy's taking Conservator dues..was relevant to infer deprivation.
8. To declare in words; to represent (a matter) in all the circumstances of modification; to set out fully or in a definite form.
1647Clarendon Hist. Reb. i. §34 Whereupon it was thought fit that the whole affair..should be stated and enlarged upon in a conference between the two Houses. 1667Boyle Orig. Formes & Qual. (ed. 2) 332 Themes, where the names that are of very common and necessary use have (yet) their significations very little stated or agreed upon. 1764Goldsm. Trav. 361 Yet think not, thus when Freedom's ills I state, I mean to flatter kings, or court the great. 1781Cowper Convers. 816 It has indeed been told me (with what weight, How credible, 'tis hard for me to state) That [etc.]. 1802M. Edgeworth Mor. Tales, Forester xii. (1848) 57 The facts were so plainly and forcibly stated, that his hopes even from law began to falter. 1810Scott Let. in Lockhart (1837) II. viii. 284 The only purpose which I suppose Lord Lauderdale had in view was to state charges which could neither be understood nor refuted. 1860Tyndall Glac. ii. i. 224 It will not be a useless labour..to state..our present views of light and heat. 1862Kalisch Hebr. Gram. i. 19 Exercise vii. State the reasons why metheg is employed in the following words. 1891Law Times XC. 463/1 The contents of the deed were falsely stated.
b. Const. (a) with a clause (introduced by that) as object; (b) with object followed by the inf., chiefly pass.
(a)1801Farmer's Mag. Apr. 137 It has already been stated, that 3,000,000 of acres are required to be in wheat. 1850Gladstone Glean. (1879) II. 123 We may state that his father was known..to be a man of extreme opinions. 1866Thirlwall Lett. (1881) II. 77 Diego then stated that he was going to the university of Salamanca.
(b)1838Lindley Flora Med. 57 Conium is stated by Aretæus to be anti-aphrodisiac. 1839F. A. Kemble Resid. in Georgia (1863) 13 Upon an English lady's stating it to be her intention to visit these persons. 1846Penny Cycl. Suppl. II. 502/2 The inhabitants, whose number is stated not to exceed a thousand. 1857Gladstone Glean. (1879) VI. 89 It is sometimes stated to have been owing to accident.
c. To specify (a number, price, etc.).
1789New Lond. Mag. July 370/2 Fifteen thousand men effective are stated. 1823Southey Penins. War I. 373 The numbers of the Spanish army have been variously stated from 14,000 to 40,000. 1842J. Bischoff Woollen Manuf. (1862) II. 169 To enable the manufacturers to afford the cloths at the prices I have stated. 1854Poultry Chron. II. 147 State your profession, especially if a clergyman. 1859Rankine Steam Engine etc. 428 The vacuum in the condenser being often measured by a mercurial gauge, is sometimes stated in inches of mercury. |