state

Etymology

From Middle English stat (as a noun); adopted c. 1200 from both Old French estat and Latin status (“manner of standing, attitude, position, carriage, manner, dress, apparel; and other senses”), from stare (“to stand”). Doublet of estate and status. The sense of "polity" develops in the 14th century. Compare French être, Greek στέω (stéo), Italian stare, Portuguese estar, Romanian sta, and Spanish estar.

noun

1. A condition; a set of circumstances applying at any given time.
   1. (physics) A complete description of a system, consisting of parameters that determine all properties of the system.
      States in which the energy has definite values are called stationary states of a system; they are described by wave functions Ψₙ which are the eigenfunctions of the Hamiltonian operator, i.e. which satisfy the equation ĤΨₙ = EₙΨₙ, where Eₙ are the eigenvalues of the energy. 1977, J. B. Sykes, John Stewart Bell, translating Lev Landau, Evgeny Lifshitz, Course of Theoretical Physics Vol. 3: Quantum Mechanics: Non-relativistic Theory, page 28
   2. (colloquial, in the singular) A mess; disorder; a bad condition or set of circumstances.
      absolute state
      in a state
      in a bit of a state
      An absolute state of a visit: what the Trump and Windsor snapshots tell us [title] 2019-06-03, Hannah Jane Parkinson, “An absolute state of a visit: what the Trump and Windsor snapshots tell us”, in The Guardian
   3. (computing) The stable condition of a processor during a particular clock cycle.
      In the fetch state, the address of the next instruction is placed on the address bus.
   4. (computing) The set of all parameters relevant to a computation.
      The state here includes a set containing all names seen so far.
   5. (computing) The values of all parameters at some point in a computation.
      A debugger can show the state of a program at any breakpoint.
   6. (sciences) The physical property of matter as solid, liquid, gas or plasma.
   7. (obsolete) Highest and stationary condition, as that of maturity between growth and decline, or as that of crisis between the increase and the abating of a disease; height; acme.
2. High social standing or circumstance.
   1. Pomp, ceremony, or dignity.
      in state
      The President's body will lie in state at the Capitol.
   2. Rank; condition; quality.
   3. Condition of prosperity or grandeur; wealthy or prosperous circumstances; social importance.
      Firſt, in princely behaviour and geſture, teaching him how he ſhould keep of a kind of ſtate, and yet, with a modeſt ſenſe of his misfortunes. 1616, Francis Bacon, The History of Henry VII, of England, published 1786, page 139
      Can this imperious lord forget to reign, / Quit all his ſtate, deſcend, and ſerve again ? 1703, “The Thebais of Statius”, in Alexander Pope, transl., The Works of Alexander Pope, volume II, London: H. Lintont et al., published 1751, book I, page 145
   4. A chair with a canopy above it, often standing on a dais; a seat of dignity; also, the canopy itself.
      He invented a way of coming into a Room backwards, which he ſaid ſhew’d more Humility, and leſs Affectation ; where other People ſtood, he ſat ; when he went to Court, he us’d to kick away the State, and ſit down by his Prince, Cheek by Choul[…] 1712, John Arbuthnot, Jonathan Swift [uncertain], “Jack’s Charms, or the Method by which he gain’d Peg’s Heart”, in John Bull Still In His Senses, London: John Morphew, page 13
   5. (obsolete) A great person, a dignitary; a lord or prince.
      They who to States and Governours of the Commonwealth direct their Speech, High Court of Parlament, or wanting ſuch acceſſe in a private condition, write that which they foreſee may advance the publick good ; I ſuppoſe them as at the beginning of no meane endeavour, not a little alter’d and mov’d inwardly in their mindes[…] 1644, John Milton, Areopagitica, page 1
   6. (obsolete) Estate, possession.
      Their parties great, meanes good, the ſeaſon fit, / Their practice cloſe, their faith ſuſpected not, / Their ſtates far off, and they of wary wit : / Who, with large promiſes, ſo wooe the Scot / To aide their Cauſe, as he conſents to it ; / And glad was to diſturne that furious ſtreame / Of warre, on vs, that elſe had ſwallowed them. 1595, Samuel Daniel, “The Civile Wars between the Two Houses of Lancaster and Yorke”, in Alexander Balloch Grosart, editor, The Complete Works in Verse and Prose of Samuel Daniel, volume II, book IV, stanza 20, page 142
      Your ’State, my Lord, again is yours. c. 1619, Philip Massinger, Nathan Field, “The Fatal Dowry”, in The Works of Philip Massinger, volume II, London: T. Davies, published 1761, [Act V, scene ii], page 271
3. A polity.
   1. Any sovereign polity; a national or city-state government.
      Never do anything against conscience even if the state demands it. a. 1949, Albert Einstein, as quoted by Virgil Henshaw in Albert Einstein: Philosopher Scientist (1949)
      It is tempting to speculate about the incentives or compulsions that might explain why anyone would take to the skies in [the] basket [of a balloon]: […]; […]; or perhaps to muse on the irrelevance of the borders that separate nation states and keep people from understanding their shared environment. 2013-06-07, David Simpson, “Fantasy of navigation”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 36
   2. A political division of a federation retaining a notable degree of autonomy, as in the United States, Mexico, Nigeria, or India.
      The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. 1789, United States Bill of Rights
      You do solemnly swear (or affirm, as the case may be) that you will support the constitution of the United States, and the constitution of the state of Connecticut, so long as you continue a citizen thereof; and that you will faithfully discharge, according to law, the duties of the office of […] to the best of your abilities. 1839, John Beach, Thomas Clap Perkins, The public statute laws of the state of Connecticut, page 35
      As Australia considers whether to allow states greater latitude in the indirect tax field, it must ask what it will do when (not if) it finally decides that the federal government should enact a modern general sales tax. 1993, Charles E. McLure, Vertical fiscal imbalance and the assignment of taxing powers in Australia
      The Central Lowlands is often referred to as the heart of America — and with good reason: If we look at the names of the eight states with populations of 10 million or more, this region has three of them, Illinois, Ohio, and Michigan, more than any one of the other five. 2001, Angus Macleod Gunn, The Impact of Geology on the United States, page 0313314446
   3. (obsolete) A form of government other than a monarchy.
      Well monarchies may own religion’s name, / But ſtates are atheiſts in their very frame. 1662, John Dryden, “Satire on the Dutch”, in The Works of the English Poets, volume XIII, London: R. Hett, published 1779, page 41
   4. (anthropology) A society larger than a tribe. A society large enough to form a state in the sense of a government.
4. (mathematics, stochastic processes) An element of the range of the random variables that define a random process.
5. (grammar, semantics) The lexical aspect (aktionsart) of verbs or predicates that do not change over time.
   […]distinctions among states of affairs are reflected to a striking degree in distinctions among Aktionsart types. That is, situations are expressed by state verbs or predicates, events by achievement verbs or predicates, and actions by activity verbs or predicates. 1997, Robert van Valin, Randy LaPolla, Syntax, page 92
   The most basic Aktionsart distinction is between states and occurrences. 2010, Nick Riemer, Introducing Semantics, page 320

verb

1. (transitive) To declare to be a fact.
   He stated that he was willing to help.
2. (transitive) To make known.
   State your intentions.

adj

1. (obsolete) Stately.