estate

American  

[ih-stayt] / 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

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Etymology

Origin of estate

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

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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

Prior owner Andrew Meieran recently sold the building to real estate investment firm Robhana Group.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2026

Chairwoman Dorothy Pritchard said the estate was delighted to welcome Leap as a potential launch operator.

From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2026

The lawsuit filed in September by Parton's longtime manager Danny Nozell accused her nephew, Bryan Seaver, of attempting to extort money from the estate, which includes an amusement park, a hotel and a soon-to-be-opened museum.

From Barron's ● Nov. 6, 2026

Also potentially in the crosshairs: grantor-retained annuity trusts, or GRATs, which the wealthy use to transfer fortunes to their children without paying gift and estate taxes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 5, 2026

The property had first belonged to James Madison’s grandfather, Ambrose Madison, who moved his wife and three children there in 1732 and called the estate Mount Pleasant.

From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis

“The Rings of Power” shot at 14 locations for Season 3, primarily on private estates and in Windsor Great Park.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2026

It’s also not hard to imagine the estates of Big Mama Thornton and Arthur Crudup — should any such entities exist — scoffing at those headlines.

From Salon ● Oct. 30, 2026

Robert Romanoff, a trust and estates lawyer at Levenfeld Pearlstein in Chicago, said he has included provisions in premarital agreements requiring that a business-owning spouse commission a compensation study.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 20, 2026

For families with complex estates, consolidating accounts and assets under one trustee can help everything run more smoothly.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 15, 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

There were deeds, and bonds, and leases, rent-rolls, and valuations, and powers of attorney, and all the other imposing accessories of estated property.

From The Martins Of Cro' Martin, Vol. II (of II) by Charles James Lever

He was an estated gentleman, and songs were made about his family.

From Three Plays by Padraic Colum

"Likening theyselves to the quality, as though they was estated folk, or the like o' that!" said Mrs. Guffern.

From Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope

"It is upon estated property I intend to raise this loan, sir," said his Lordship, angrily.

From Davenport Dunn, Volume 1 (of 2) A Man Of Our Day by Charles James Lever

Had Thady Macdermot had ready money, it might have been well built; but though an estated gentleman, he had none.

From The Macdermots of Ballycloran by Anthony Trollope

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