estate

[ ih-steyt ]

noun

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.

verb (used with object)

, es·tat·ed, es·tat·ing.

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

estate

/ 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. See fourth estate, States General
   Also calledestate 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

Word History and Origins

Origin of estate¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of estate¹

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

Synonym Study

See property.

Example Sentences

This, after all, is where a beachfront estate originally built for the Ford family was recently listed for $145 million.

From Fortune

In 2014, James Seifert, the company’s real estate chief, testified to the California Public Utilities Commission that part of the reason the employees were leaving the building was because it needed significant capital improvements.

From Voice of San Diego

Vacchi was not directly involved in the real estate debacle.

From Voice of San Diego

City insiders hoped Thompson, who had spent more than two decades in the commercial real estate business, could address some of the department’s long-running challenges.

From Voice of San Diego

It’s another recent example of real estate deals by the city gone awry.

From Voice of San Diego

Al Qaeda has never managed to carve out a large chunk of real estate to call its own—in Afghanistan it was a guest of the Taliban.

From The Daily Beast

Last week, property owners were beaten by security guards as they confronted a real-estate developer who defrauded them.

From The Daily Beast

Plus, the Spey, one of the most famous salmon rivers in the world, bordered the south side of the estate.

From The Daily Beast

Which is why in 1961, the distillery finally decided to purchase the estate and its adjoining home.

From The Daily Beast

So the trip to The Macallan estate was sort of a pilgrimage.

From The Daily Beast

But if what I told him were true, he was still at a loss how a kingdom could run out of its estate like a private person.

From Project Gutenberg

He is dead; but his three sons have the estate yet, and I think they would keep their father's promise to the Indians.

From Project Gutenberg

The rebellion spread to their district, and many of the natives on and about the estate were eager to join in the movement.

From Project Gutenberg

Aunt Ri, at her best estate, had never possessed a room which had the expression of this poor little mud hut of Ramona's.

From Project Gutenberg

The senior branch of the family being thus extinct the whole of the entailed estate had devolved on me.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

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