estate

[ih-steyt]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR estate ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a piece of landed property, especially one of large extent with an elaborate house on it: to have an estate in the country.

Law.

property or possessions.
the legal position or status of an owner, considered with respect to property owned in land or other things.
the degree or quantity of interest that a person has in land with respect to the nature of the right, its duration, or its relation to the rights of others.
interest, ownership, or property in land or other things.
the property of a deceased person, a bankrupt, etc., viewed as an aggregate.

British. a housing development.

a period or condition of life: to attain to man's estate.

a major political or social group or class, especially one once having specific political powers, as the clergy, nobles, and commons in France or the lords spiritual, lords temporal, and commons in England.

condition or circumstances with reference to worldly prosperity, estimation, etc.; social status or rank.

Obsolete. pomp or state.

Obsolete. high social status or rank.

verb (used with object), es·tat·ed, es·tat·ing.

Obsolete. to establish in or as in an estate.

Origin of estate

1175–1225; Middle English estat < Middle French; cognate with Provençal estat. See state

Synonym study

1. See property.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for estate

parcel, area, farm, residence, ranch, plantation, legacy, endowment, inheritance, domain, villa, acreage, dominion, territory, grounds, lands, freehold, demesne, substance, fortune

Examples from the Web for estate

Contemporary Examples of estate

Plus, the Spey, one of the most famous salmon rivers in the world, bordered the south side of the estate.
Ester Elchies, The Estate Built By Whiskey
December 10, 2014
Which is why in 1961, the distillery finally decided to purchase the estate and its adjoining home.
Ester Elchies, The Estate Built By Whiskey
December 10, 2014
So the trip to The Macallan estate was sort of a pilgrimage.
A Whisky Connoisseur Remembers That First Sip of The Macallan
December 10, 2014
You can find fourteen of these copper creations, all initially containing 3,900 liters of liquid apiece, on the Macallan estate.
When It Comes to Great Whisky, The Size of Your Still Matters
December 9, 2014
But being hung up on before having chance to tell the unnamed desk sergeant I was with the fourth estate is not the norm.
The Disappearing Cops of East St. Louis
Justin Glawe
November 26, 2014

Historical Examples of estate

The rest of the estate went to the testator's widow for life, and then to charity.
The Spenders
Harry Leon Wilson
Speculation was rife as to who would inherit the estate which he left behind him.
Brave and Bold
Horatio Alger
I have advised you to resume your own estate: that you won't do.
Clarissa, Volume 1 (of 9)
Samuel Richardson
During Tuesday the body was viewed by the tenants on the estate, the neighbors and friends.
The Grand Old Man
Richard B. Cook
Now then, John, you are the administrator of my father's estate; you have seen what you have seen.
Her Father's Daughter
Gene Stratton-Porter

British Dictionary definitions for estate

estate

noun

a large piece of landed property, esp in the country

mainly British a large area of property development, esp of new houses or (trading estate) of factories

property law

property or possessions
the nature of interest that a person has in land or other property, esp in relation to the right of others
the total extent of the real and personal property of a deceased person or bankrupt

Also called: estate of the realm an order or class of persons in a political community, regarded collectively as a part of the body politic: usually regarded as being the lords temporal (peers), lords spiritual, and commonsSee also States General, fourth estate

state, period, or position in life, esp with regard to wealth or social standingyouth's estate; a poor man's estate

Word Origin for estate

C13: from Old French estat, from Latin status condition, state

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for estate

early 13c., "rank, standing, condition," from Anglo-French astat, Old French estat "state, position, condition, health, status, legal estate" (Modern French état), from Latin status "state or condition," from root of stare "to stand" from PIE root *sta- "to stand" (see stet).

For initial e-, see especial. Sense of "property" is late 14c., from that of "worldly prosperity;" specific application to "landed property" (usually of large extent) is first recorded in American English 1620s. A native word for this was Middle English ethel (Old English æðel) "ancestral land or estate, patrimony." Meaning "collective assets of a dead person or debtor" is from 1830.

The three estates (in Sweden and Aragon, four) conceived as orders in the body politic date from late 14c. In France, they are the clergy, nobles, and townsmen; in England, originally the clergy, barons, and commons, later Lords Spiritual, Lords Temporal, and commons. For Fourth Estate see four.