status English · revision 2721

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1671|origins=la stō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ˈsteɪ.təs/, US /ˈstæ.t̬əs/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|status|t=condition, position, state, manner]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) from the past participle stem of [[m|la|stāre|t=to stand]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[ine-pro|*steh₂-|alt=*sta-|t=to stand, make or be firm]].^(Etymonline) It is a doublet of [[estate]] and [[state]].^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ As a Latin word for the height of something: 1671, in Evelyn's correspondence,^(Barnhart 1988) the 1670s in Etymonline.^(Etymonline) In medicine it was the height or crisis of a disease, from 1693.^(OED 1989) Merriam-Webster dates its first sense to 1767.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In law, the legal standing of a person as determined by membership of a class, it is from 1791, in Boswell's ''Life of Johnson''.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) Standing in society or a profession is from 1820, in Scott's ''The Monastery'',^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) and the general condition of things from 1860.^(OED 1989) ''Status quo'', “the existing state of affairs”, is from 1833.^(Barnhart 1988) In sociology it was used as an adjective by 1947, as in ''status anxiety'',^(Etymonline) and ''status symbol'' is recorded by 1955.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1671 – height.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1693 – the crisis of a disease.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1791 – legal standing.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1820 – social standing.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1833 – ''status quo''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1860 – a state of affairs.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1955 – ''status symbol''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A person's position in relation to others; [[rank]] or standing.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # High standing; [[prestige]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # [[legal|alt=Legal]] condition: ''marital status''.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # A state of affairs; the situation at a given time.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[nonstatus]]

+ * [[achieved status]]

+ * [[ascribed status]]

+ * [[status offender]]

+ * [[status in quo]]

+ * [[status quo]]

+ * [[status quo ante]]

+ * [[status symbol]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[state]]

+ * [[estate]]

+ * [[statue]]

+ * [[stature]]

+ * [[statute]]

+ * [[stand]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}