statue

[stach-oo]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR statue ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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.

Origin of statue

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

Related formsstat·ue·like, adjective

Can be confusedstatue stature statute

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for statue

piece, figure, effigy, image, bust, likeness, statuary, sculpture, marble, bronze, icon, statuette, simulacrum, representation, ivory, cast, torso

Examples from the Web for statue

Contemporary Examples of statue

Workers built a temporary rail track through the city to move the statue in a process that took three days.
Florence Preps ‘David’ for the Big One
Barbie Latza Nadeau
December 25, 2014
None of us were interested in making a film about a speech, a statue, or all that good stuff; it was about getting underneath it.
Ava DuVernay on ‘Selma,’ the Racist Sony Emails, and Making Golden Globes History
Marlow Stern
December 15, 2014
To Bartholdi, his statue meant a commemoration of Liberty attained.
128 Years Old and Still a Looker: Happy Birthday to Lady Liberty
Elizabeth Mitchell
October 28, 2014
But even amid those early protests, the Statue of Liberty was doing her job.
128 Years Old and Still a Looker: Happy Birthday to Lady Liberty
Elizabeth Mitchell
October 28, 2014
The Statue of Liberty would serve as the north star of our behavior.
128 Years Old and Still a Looker: Happy Birthday to Lady Liberty
Elizabeth Mitchell
October 28, 2014

Historical Examples of statue

"Men say it is not so grand as the statue of Zeus, that we have at Olympia," replied the boy.
Philothea
Lydia Maria Child
From this marble Phidias sculptured a statue of Vengeance, which was called Rhamnusia.
Philothea
Lydia Maria Child
In the garden of Anaxagoras, you will find a statue of Pallas, carved from an olive-tree.
Philothea
Lydia Maria Child
We do not know which genius first discovered the use of pottery but he deserves a statue.
Ancient Man
Hendrik Willem van Loon
By the statue of Horace Greeley I stood a moment irresolute.
The Bacillus of Beauty
Harriet Stark

British Dictionary definitions for statue

statue

noun

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

Word Origin for statue

C14: via Old French from Latin statua, from statuere to set up; compare statute

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 statue

c.1300, from Old French statue (12c.), from Latin statua "image, statue," prop. "that which is set up," back-formation from statuere "to cause to stand, set up," from status "a standing, position," from stare "to stand" (see stet). The children's game of statues is attested from 1906.