state

• The ſhepheardes ſwayne you cannot well ken, / But it be by his pride, from other men: / They looken bigge as Bulles, that bene bate, / And bearen the cragge ſo ſtiffe and ſo ſtate, / As Cocke on his dunghill, crowing...

• a state of being
• a state of emergency
• Relate what Latium was, her ancient Kings : / Declare the paſt, and preſent State of things, / When firſt the Trojan Fleet Auſonia ſought ; / And how the Rivals lov’d, and how they fought. - 1697, “Æneis”, in John...

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...

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

   Synonyms: ass in a sling bind bucket of syrup calvary cauldron cross cross to bear difficulty dilemma dire straits doghouse fix hole jam kettle kettle of fish ordeal pickle pinch plight predicament quandary quagmire situation

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.

• in state
• The President's body will lie in state at the Capitol.

1. Pomp, ceremony, or dignity.

2. Rank; condition; quality.

   • And leſned by that ſmall, God I beſeech him, / Thy honor, ſtate, and ſeate, is due to me. - c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies,...

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,...
   • 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.,...

4. A chair with a canopy above it, often standing on a dais; a seat of dignity; also, the canopy itself.

   • […]and from the dore / Of that Plutonia Hall, inviſible / Aſcended his high Throne, which under ſtate / Of richeſt texture ſpred, at th’ upper end / Was plac’t in regal luſtre. - 1667, John Milton, “Book X”, in Paradise...
   • 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...

   Synonyms: chair of state

5. (obsolete) A great person, a dignitary; a lord or prince.

   • We in the name of other Perſean ſtates, And commons of this mightie Monarchy, Preſent thee with the Emperiall Diadem. - c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […],...
   • 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...

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...
   • 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:

• 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)

1. (historically often capitalized) A sovereign country or city state, with the central government acting as its visible instrument.

2. A political division of a federation retaining a notable degree of autonomy, as in the United States, Mexico, Nigeria, or India.

   • His alibi is that he was out of state the night of the murder.
   • 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...

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...

4. (anthropology) A society larger than a tribe. A society large enough to form a state in the sense of a government.

• […]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...
• The most basic Aktionsart distinction is between states and occurrences. - 2010, Nick Riemer, Introducing Semantics, page 320:

Antonyms: occurrence

• He stated that he was willing to help.
• Carried somehow, somewhither, for some reason, on these surging floods, were these travelers, of errand not wholly obvious to their fellows, yet of such sort as to call into query alike the nature of their errand and...
• A provision of law may not be construed as requiring a new grant to be awarded to a specified non-Federal Government entity unless that provision of law (1) specifically refers to this subsection; specifically...

• State your intentions.