statue

American  

[stach-oo] / ˈstætʃ u /

noun

1. a three-dimensional work of art, as a representational or abstract form, carved in stone or wood, molded in a plastic material, cast in bronze, or the like.

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statue British  

/ ˈstætjuː /

noun

1. a wooden, stone, metal, plaster, or other kind of sculpture of a human or animal figure, usually life-size or larger

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Other Word Forms

• statuelike
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of statue

1300–50; Middle English < Middle French < Latin statua, noun derivative of statuere to set up, itself derivative of status ( see status)

Explanation

To stand as still as a statue is to stand absolutely still, a statue being a sculpture, after all. A statue is a specific kind of sculpture, one that clearly represents a person, an animal, or other living creature. There's no question that the first thing most people think of when they hear the word statue is the Statue of Liberty. The woman's name is Liberty and there she is, a statue. Any sculpture that represents a person (Liberty, George Washington, Gandhi, or the Mad Hatter) is called a statue. In New York's Central Park, there is a much beloved statue of a dog named Balto, a heroic husky from Alaska.

Example Sentences

At one stage, he says, he hid the statue in an undisclosed location in Ohio until final payments arrived.

From Salon • May 17, 2026

Gonzalez Rogers held the statue with mock, or perhaps real, disgust.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 17, 2026

This April, a statue that had been removed in the state of Delaware in 2020 reappeared at Washington's central Freedom Plaza.

From Barron's • May 17, 2026

Somewhere in the city, somebody is chiselling away at a statue of the 74-year-old.

From BBC • May 16, 2026

“Hey, Carm. Are you pretending to be a statue or something?”

From "I Survived the Great Molasses Flood, 1919" by Lauren Tarshis

Related Words

• bronze
• bust
• effigy
• figure
• icon
• image
• likeness
• marble
• piece
• sculpture
• statuary
• statuette