estate Hear it!

estate definition

es·tate (ə stāt, i-)

noun

    1. state or condition to restore the theater to its former estate
    2. a condition or stage of life to come to man's estate
    3. status or rank
  1. Historical esp. in feudal times, any of the three social classes having specific political powers: the first estate was the Lords Spiritual (clergy), the second estate the Lords Temporal (nobility), and the third estate the Commons (bourgeoisie)
  2. property; possessions; capital; fortune
  3. the assets and liabilities of a dead or bankrupt person
  4. landed property; individually owned piece of land containing a residence, esp. one that is large and maintained by great wealth
  5. Brit. development (sense )
  6. Archaic display of wealth; pomp
  7. Law
    1. the degree, nature, extent, and quality of interest or ownership that one has in land or other property
    2. all the property, real or personal, owned by one

Etymology: ME & OFr estat, state

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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