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. 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

What initiated this project, and, as manager of his estate, what was it about this film that appealed to you?

From Salon

Residents of some new-build estates across the West said service charges - the bill for the upkeep of communal areas - set by property management company FirstPort have surged.

From BBC

Our analysis found that the figure was likely to be somewhere closer to the number provided by the government - about 500 estates per year.

From BBC

What was Trump’s purported justification for spiriting the documents away to his Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago?

From Los Angeles Times

Despite being outspent 8-1, a coalition of progressive groups in Santa Ana helped beat back a recall of a city council member who was opposed by real estate interests and the city’s police union.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

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