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état

Etymology and origin of the French word état

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1213, Fet des Romains (estate)
Borrowed from
Latin status
Ultimate origin
Latin (stō)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin status
English state
English statement
English status
French état

Pronunciation

Forms

état m (plural états)[1] First written estate (1213), then estat (about 1370); état is recorded from 1636.[2][3] In the sense “state, nation, government” it is usually written with a capital: État.[1][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin status (“a standing; position, situation”), from stō (“to stand”), which goes back to an Indo-European root “*sta-” “to stand”.[5][2][6][7] In Latin “status” was often joined to “civitas” and “imperium” and took in Late Latin the sense “form of government”; legal Late Latin used it for a person's status, and Medieval Latin for an inventory (13th century).[5][2] The political sense may also owe something to Italian stato, used by Dante and later by Guicciardini.[5][6]

The inherited outcome of “status” was Old French esté “height, length; rank; stature”.[2] Cognate with Old Occitan estat, Spanish estado and Italian stato.[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

As estate it is first found in 1213 in the Fet des Romains, meaning the way a thing or person is at a given moment.[5][2] Bloch and Wartburg date it to 1196.[6]

Semantic evolution

From the Roman de la Rose (1285) it meant a person's social or professional position, a sense alive in classical French (choisir un état) and still in de son état (il est médecin de son état).[5][2] In Ancien Régime France it named each political and social order (about 1376, trois estas), the clergy, nobility and commons, as in tiers état and États généraux.[5][2][3] An estat was also a written list recording the condition of things (1467), and état civil a person's civil status (1756).[5]

Commynes (about 1500) uses it for a nation under one authority, and secrétaire d'État is in the Satyre Ménippée (1594).[5][6] The physical sense en bon état “in good health” is found in 1625, and science made much use of the word from the 18th century: état liquide, solide (1781), gazeux (1863).[9][2] Dans tous ses états “very agitated” dates from 1864.[2]

Timeline

  • 1213 – Estate in the Fet des Romains.[5]
  • 1285 – Social or professional position, in the Roman de la Rose.[5]
  • c. 1376 – Trois estas, the orders of the realm.[5]
  • 1467 – A written statement, in a letter of Louis XI.[5]
  • c. 1500 – A nation under one authority, in Commynes.[5]
  • 1594 – Secrétaire d'État.[5]
  • 1636 – The spelling état.[3][10]
  • 1756 – État civil in the Encyclopédie.[5]
  • 1864 – Dans tous ses états.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A state, condition (of a person or thing): état de santé, en bon état, état d'esprit.[5][1]
  2. (physics) A state of matter: état solide, liquide, gazeux.[2]
  3. A written statement or list: état des dépenses, état des lieux.[5][1]
  4. (dated) A trade or profession: de son état.[2]
  5. (history) An estate of the realm: le tiers état, les États généraux.[2][3]
  6. État civil: civil status; the register office.[5]
  7. (usually capitalized) A State, a nation; its government and administration: chef d'État, homme d'État.[1][4]
  8. Dans tous ses états: in a great state of agitation.[2]

Word family

  • étatisme
  • étatiser
  • état-major
  • étatique

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  4. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  6. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 12, 248a
  8. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  9. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  10. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“État.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/%C3%A9tat. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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