Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A landed property, usually of considerable size.
  • noun One's property, both real and personal, vested and contingent, especially as disposed of in a will.
  • noun The nature and extent of an owner's rights with respect to land or other property.
  • noun Chiefly British A housing development.
  • noun The situation or circumstances of one's life.
  • noun Social position or rank, especially of high order.
  • noun A major social class, such as the clergy, the nobility, or the commons, formerly possessing distinct political rights.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To establish in possession; settle.
  • To settle as a possession; bestow; deed.
  • To settle an estate upon; endow with an estate or other property.
  • noun A fixed or established condition; a special form of existence; state.
  • noun Condition or circumstances of a person or thing; situation; especially, the state of a person as regards external circumstances.
  • noun Rank; quality; status.
  • noun Style of living: usually with a distinctive opithet, high, great, etc., implying pomp or dignity.
  • noun In law: The legal position or status of an owner, considered with respect to his property; ownership, tenancy, or tenure; property in land or other things.
  • noun More technically, and with relation only to land, the degree or quantity of interest, considered in respect to the nature of the right, its period of duration, or its relation to the rights of others, which a person has in land.
  • noun Property in general; possessions; particularly, the property left at a man's death: as, at his death his estate was of the value of half a million; the trustees proceeded to realize the estate.
  • noun A piece of landed property; a definite portion of land in the ownership of some one: as, there is more wood on his estate than on mine.
  • noun The body politic; state; commonwealth; public; public interest.
  • noun One of the orders or classes into which the population of some countries is or has been divided, with respect to political rights and powers.
  • noun A person of high station or rank; a noble.
  • noun A name humorously given in recent times to the newspaper press, or the body of journalists, as constituting a power in the state distinct from that of the three recognized political orders.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb obsolete To establish.
  • transitive verb Archaic Tom settle as a fortune.
  • transitive verb Archaic To endow with an estate.
  • noun Settled condition or form of existence; state; condition or circumstances of life or of any person; situation.
  • noun Social standing or rank; quality; dignity.
  • noun obsolete A person of high rank.
  • noun A property which a person possesses; a fortune; possessions, esp. property in land; also, property of all kinds which a person leaves to be divided at his death.
  • noun obsolete The state; the general body politic; the common-wealth; the general interest; state affairs.
  • noun The great classes or orders of a community or state (as the clergy, the nobility, and the commonalty of England) or their representatives who administer the government.
  • noun (Law) The degree, quality, nature, and extent of one's interest in, or ownership of, lands, tenements, etc.
  • noun a name often given to the public press.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun everything you own; all of your assets (whether real property or personal property) and liabilities
  • noun a major social class or order of persons regarded collectively as part of the body politic of the country (especially in the United Kingdom) and formerly possessing distinct political rights
  • noun extensive landed property (especially in the country) retained by the owner for his own use

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English estat, condition, from Old French; see state.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Anglo-Norman astat, from Old French estat (French: état).

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Examples

Comments

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  • "WILLIAMSBURG, November 18, 1773.

    THE many difficulties attending the management of the estate of the late Mr. William Rind compel me once more to remind all those indebted to it to be speedy in their payments, otherwise I shall be necessitated to use the most rigorous means; and those who have bonds, or other specialties, which are not already made known, will please to acquaint me therewith, that they may be adjusted as soon as possible.—I must also entreat the collectors in the several counties not to be remiss in making their returns, as the necessity of it must be obvious.

    WILLIAM RUSSELL, Administrator."

    Virginia Gazette (Rind), Nov. 18, 1773

    (See auction for the prequel.)

    January 30, 2009