estate

American  

[ih-steyt] / ɪˈsteɪt /

noun

• estates
  plural

1. a piece of landed property, especially one of large extent with an elaborate house on it.

   to have an estate in the country.

2. Law.

   1. property or possessions.

   2. the legal position or status of an owner, considered with respect to property owned in land or other things.

   3. 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.

   4. interest, ownership, or property in land or other things.

   5. the property of a deceased person, a bankrupt, etc., viewed as an aggregate.

3. British. a housing development.

4. a period or condition of life.

   to attain to man's estate.

5. 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.

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

7. Obsolete. pomp or state.

8. Obsolete. high social status or rank.

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verb (used with object)

estated, estating

1. Obsolete. to establish in or as in an estate.

estate British  

/ ɪˈsteɪt /

noun

1. a large piece of landed property, esp in the country

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

3. property law

   1. property or possessions

   2. the nature of interest that a person has in land or other property, esp in relation to the right of others

   3. the total extent of the real and personal property of a deceased person or bankrupt

4. 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 commons See also States General fourth estate

5. state, period, or position in life, esp with regard to wealth or social standing

   youth's estate

   a poor man's estate

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Synonym Usage

See property.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• estates
  plural

Etymology

Origin of estate

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

Explanation

The word estate is mostly used to mean a massive and fabulous house on a big piece of land. When you own an estate, it usually means you have a whole lot of money to go along with it. While an estate refers mostly to land and a house on it, it can also refer to all of a person’s possessions — and this sense of the word is often used after someone has died to refer to everything they are leaving behind. “You are set to inherit half of your grandfather’s estate, which includes his entire collection of stuffed raccoons.” In the past (and sometimes still) estate was also used to refer to someone’s state or condition, as well as his or her social standing.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

estate estates estated

The waterfront estate on affluent La Gorce Island has a dock and 100 feet of frontage on Biscayne Bay.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

If you choose not to serve, it’s best to do so promptly so the estate can be administered without unnecessary delay.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 7, 2026

Minnie Merriman, from West Yorkshire, died at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee after being found seriously injured at an industrial estate in the town.

From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026

Burbank locals have resisted growth in the past, said real estate consultant Chris Baer of Avison Young.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026

A real estate market meltdown might cause these companies to lose money; there was no guarantee that they would actually go bankrupt.

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis

I’m a writer who has been sent out on assignment to the stucco estates of suburban Los Angeles to profile a young socialist named Hasan Piker.

From Slate ● Aug. 7, 2026

In fact, estates with little or no money can sometimes be the most difficult to administer because debts, creditors and property issues still have to be addressed.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026

It could face "fierce opposition" if that means people who would not have faced inheritance tax will now have their estates taxed, the paper adds.

From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026

The charity said there was "a huge community effort" to halt the spread with gamekeepers and other staff from neighbouring estates.

From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026

He'd returned from Rosby to deliver a fresh levy of spearmen recruited from Lord Cyles's estates and resume his command of the City Watch.

From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin

This system was, however, especially disadvantageous to one class of estated proprietors, the Municipalities.

From Ancient Law Its Connection to the History of Early Society by Maine, Henry Sumner, Sir

There is many an estated lord couldn't reach you out a fourpenny bit.

From New Irish Comedies by Gregory, Lady

It was all the difference between rank and obscurity—between wealth and want—between the condition of an estated gentleman and the assumption of a mere pretender.

From Roland Cashel Volume II (of II) by Lever, Charles James

Every class, from the estated proprietor to the humblest peasant, is loud in asserting that the story is an infamous falsehood.

From Lord Kilgobbin by Lever, Charles James

Darby: You letting on to be an estated magistrate and my own cousin and such a great generation of a man.

From New Irish Comedies by Gregory, Lady

Related Words

• area
• farm
• parcel
• plantation
• ranch
• residence