état French · revision 16446

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1213, Fet des Romains (estate)|origins=la stō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /e.ta/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''état''' ''m'' (plural états)^(Wiktionary)

+ First written ''estate'' (1213), then ''estat'' (about 1370); ''état'' is recorded from 1636.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)

+ In the sense “state, nation, government” it is usually written with a capital: ''État''.^(Wiktionary)^(Larousse)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|status|t=a standing; position, situation]], from [[m|la|stō|t=to stand]], which goes back to an Indo-European root “*sta-” “to stand”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(FEW|12, 248a) 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).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) The political sense may also owe something to [[it|stato]], used by Dante and later by Guicciardini.^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ The inherited outcome of “status” was Old French [[m|fro|esté]] “height, length; rank; stature”.^(DHLF 1992) Cognate with [[pro|estat]], [[es|estado]] and [[it|stato]].^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==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.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Bloch and Wartburg date it to 1196.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==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'').^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) 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''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) An ''estat'' was also a written list recording the condition of things (1467), and ''état civil'' a person's civil status (1756).^(TLFi)

+

+ Commynes (about 1500) uses it for a nation under one authority, and ''secrétaire d'État'' is in the ''Satyre Ménippée'' (1594).^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) 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).^(BHVF)^(DHLF 1992) ''Dans tous ses états'' “very agitated” dates from 1864.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1213 – ''Estate'' in the ''Fet des Romains''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1285 – Social or professional position, in the ''Roman de la Rose''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1376 – ''Trois estas'', the orders of the realm.^(TLFi)

+ * 1467 – A written statement, in a letter of Louis XI.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1500 – A nation under one authority, in Commynes.^(TLFi)

+ * 1594 – ''Secrétaire d'État''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1636 – The spelling ''état''.^(GLLF 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+ * 1756 – ''État civil'' in the ''Encyclopédie''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1864 – ''Dans tous ses états''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|state]], condition (of a person or thing): ''état de santé'', ''en bon état'', ''état d'esprit''.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(physics)'' A state of matter: ''état solide'', ''liquide'', ''gazeux''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ # A written statement or list: ''état des dépenses'', ''état des lieux''.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(dated)'' A trade or profession: ''de son état''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(history)'' An estate of the realm: ''le tiers état'', ''les États généraux''.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''État civil'': civil status; the register office.^(TLFi)

+ # ''(usually capitalized)'' A State, a [[m|en|nation]]; its government and administration: ''chef d'État'', ''homme d'État''.^(Wiktionary)^(Larousse)

+ # ''Dans tous ses états'': in a great state of agitation.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[étatisme]]

+ * [[étatiser]]

+ * [[état-major]]

+ * [[étatique]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[station]]

+ * [[statut]]

+ * [[la|status]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}