status quon.
/ˌsteɪtəs ˈkwəʊ/, U.S. /ˌsteɪdəs ˈkwoʊ/, /ˌstædəs ˈkwoʊ/ The existing state of affairs. Also as a count noun.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > state or condition > circumstance or circumstances > [noun] > state of affairs or situation > existing state of affairs or status quo
status quo1719
score1938
1719 Compleat Coll. State-trials II. 211/1 The Impeachments, Appeals, &c. and the Incidents..should stand in Statu Quo; so that (as is already observed) the Status Quo (as to him) he again said, was to put him into a State of Liberty.
1742 W. Stephens Jrnl. 22 Dec. (1958) 152 The most I could aim at, was..to maintain those Improvements, in Status quo, that I had already brought to pretty good perfection.
1833 Edinb. Rev. 56 436 The status quo was to be maintained in Luxemburg during negotiations respecting that duchy.
1884 tr. H. Lotze Logic 403 The desire to protect that particular status quo on principle against all innovation.
1948 L. P. Crespi in E. G. Boring et al. Found. Psychol. xxv. 612 The social entrepreneurs are angry about the status quo and are trying vehemently to change it.
1972 K. Brown in N. R. Keddie Scholars, Saints, & Sufis v. 146 It was an attempt to preserve a status quo that was to their advantage.
2004 Independent (Compact ed.) 27 Apr. (Review section) 2/2 Across the Western world, people are rising up against the status quo.
Compounds
attributive with the sense ‘that maintains, or is committed to maintaining, the existing state of affairs’.
ΚΠ
1844 C. MacFarlane Our Indian Empire II. ii. 34/2 Our inactive status quo system..was to preserve affairs upon the footing on which it had found them.
1854 New Monthly Mag. July 292 Austria became—by this status-quo policy..—each day more powerless.
1881 Argentine Republic & Chili xxv. 60 The status quo agreement was as follows: [etc.]
1965 H. Kahn On Escalation xiii. 244 It is normal that status quo nations will tend to be crisis-avoiding nations.
1971 Guardian 6 Dec. 13/8 The TUC puts its money firmly on the need for a ‘status quo’ declaration by the employer. In other words, the unions insist that the employer must..abandon his authority to change a work practice or agreement without the blessing of his employees... Workers can be expected to observe procedures only if they contain a ‘status quo’ clause and the employer observes it.
2003 R. Morrison & C. Ericsson Developing Effective Engin. Leadership (2006) 48 It is..difficult for a Company to move from a status quo position and respond to the changing environment.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2012; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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