estate

[ ih-steyt ]

/ ɪˈsteɪt /

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.

Nearby words

estamene, estamin, estaminet, estampie, estancia, estate, estate agent, estate car, estate duty, estate tax, estate-bottling

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

Examples from the Web for 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|DAILY BEAST
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|DAILY BEAST
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|DAILY BEAST
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|DAILY BEAST

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|DAILY BEAST
He believes that when the Bishop sees himself about to lose the estate, he too will show himself ready for a bargain.
Selections from the Poems and Plays of Robert Browning|Robert Browning
Mrs. Morris then proceeded to give in fragmentary speeches an outline of the constitution and government of the estate.
Desperate Remedies|Thomas Hardy
A man must keep a woman, said the poor fellow to me, but not his estate!
Clarissa, Volume 4 (of 9)|Samuel Richardson
If the estate fell to an heiress, her hand was at the king's disposal, and was generally sold by him to the highest bidder.
History of the English People, Volume I (of 8)|John Richard Green
The delays of diplomacy are like the delays of law—the estate perishes before the process is at an end.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 56, Number 349, November, 1844|Various

British Dictionary definitions for estate

estate

/ (ɪˈsteɪt) /

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

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.

estate

noun

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

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British Dictionary definitions for estate

estate

noun

Word Origin for estate

Word Origin and History for estate

estate