statue
Americannoun
-
statues
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
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.
Vocabulary lists containing statue
Academy Awards, List 1
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"The Secret Water"
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Commonly Confused Words, List 3
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"It goes beyond having decent toilets in schools," lycée student Alcidor says in Paris, under the statue of Marianne at Place de la République, a place synonymous with protest.
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026
The statue, dedicated in 2008, stood on a concrete slab between lanes of traffic outside the Sacramento Youth Center in the 1900 block of Del Paso Boulevard.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 4, 2026
Xi received the full pageantry of a state visit: a 21-gun salute, a flyover of U.S. jet fighters and a stealth bomber and a gift in the form of a large bald eagle statue.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 3, 2026
But Bulgaria is not the only country to have claims on Samuel, with a huge statue of the tsar gracing the North Macedonian capital Skopje.
From Barron's ● Oct. 2, 2026
He raced back to his yard and, addressing himself to Amanda’s statue, declared, “I’m coming home!”
From "Abel's Island" by William Steig
Miranda also referenced that difficult period during Friday's mission, when the players had to collect and assemble parts of Easter Island-like statues on a rainy hillside.
From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2026
Upon arriving, the statues discover that Rome has undergone more than a few changes over the intervening centuries.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
“Pluribus” star Rhea Seehorn finally won the best actress statues that long eluded her, and series creator Vince Gilligan scored a writing Emmy.
From Salon ● Sep. 15, 2026
KHARTOUM, Sudan — The ancient statues of the deities Heket and Beset, too heavy to move, were used for target practice.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026
The tourists come to see statues and artifacts of the ancient world.
From "The (Mostly) True Story of Cleopatra's Needle" by Dan Gutman
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
