From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Estate \Es*tate"\ ([e^]s*t[=a]t"), noun [OF. estat, F. ['e]tat, L. status, fr. stare to stand. See {Stand}, and cf. {State}.]
1. Settled condition or form of existence; state; condition or circumstances of life or of any person; situation. ''When I came to man's estate.'' --Shak.
Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. --Romans xii. 16.
2. Social standing or rank; quality; dignity.
God hath imprinted his authority in several parts, upon several estates of men. --Jer. Taylor.
3. A person of high rank. [Obs.]
She's a duchess, a great estate. --Latimer.
Herod on his birthday made a supper to his lords, high captains, and chief estates of Galilee. --Mark vi. 21.
4. A property which a person possesses; a fortune; possessions, esp. property in land; also, property of all kinds which a person leaves to be divided at his death.
See what a vast estate he left his son. --Dryden.
5. The state; the general body politic; the common-wealth; the general interest; state affairs. [Obs.]
I call matters of estate not only the parts of sovereignty, but whatsoever . . . concerneth manifestly any great portion of people. --Bacon.
6. pl. The great classes or orders of a community or state (as the clergy, the nobility, and the commonalty of England) or their representatives who administer the government; as, the estates of the realm (England), which are (1) the lords spiritual, (2) the lords temporal, (3) the commons.
7. (Law) The degree, quality, nature, and extent of one's interest in, or ownership of, lands, tenements, etc.; as, an estate for life, for years, at will, etc. --Abbott.
{The fourth estate}, a name often given to the public press.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Estate \Es*tate"\, verb (used with an object)
1. To establish. [Obs.] --Beau. & Fl.
2. Tom settle as a fortune. [Archaic] --Shak.
3. To endow with an estate. [Archaic]
Then would I . . . Estate them with large land and territory. --Tennyson.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
noun
1: everything you own; all of your assets (whether real property or personal property) and liabilities
2: extensive landed property (especially in the country) retained by the owner for his own use; "the family owned a large estate on Long Island" [syn: {land}, {landed estate}, {acres}, {demesne}]
3: a major social class or order of persons regarded collectively as part of the body politic of the country and formerly possessing distinct political rights [syn: {estate of the realm}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
142 Moby Thesaurus words for "estate": Everyman, John Doe, Public, absolute interest, acres, assets, bearings, belongings, benefit, blood, body politic, bracket, branch, capital, case, caste, category, chattels, circumstance, citizenry, claim, clan, class, common, common man, commonwealth, community, community at large, condition, contingent interest, demesne, development, division, domain, easement, equitable interest, equity, everybody, everyman, everyone, everywoman, farm, farmstead, fix, folk, folks, footing, form, fortune, general public, gentry, grade, grange, group, grouping, hacienda, head, heading, holding, holdings, home place, homecroft, homestead, house and grounds, house and lot, interest, jam, kin, label, land, level, limitation, location, lot, manor, mansion, men, messuage, modality, mode, nation, nationality, order, part, pass, people, people in general, percentage, persons, pickle, pigeonhole, place, plantation, plight, polity, populace, population, position, possessions, posture, predicament, property, public, race, ranch, rancho, rank, rating, repair, resources, right, right of entry, rubric, section, sept, set, settlement, shape, situation, society, spot, stake, standing, state, station, status, steading, strain, stratum, strict settlement, subdivision, subgroup, suborder, title, toft, trust, use, vested interest, villa, wealth, world, you and me
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