Definition of "state"

A condition; a set of circumstances applying at any given time.  quotations

1. (physics) A complete description of a system, consisting of parameters that determine all properties of the system.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • States in which the energy has definite values are called stationary states of a system; they are described by wave functions Ψₙ which are the eigenfunctions of the Hamiltonian operator, i.e. which satisfy the equation ĤΨₙ = EₙΨₙ, where Eₙ are the eigenvalues of the energy.

     1977, J. B. Sykes, John Stewart Bell, translating Lev Landau, Evgeny Lifshitz, Course of Theoretical Physics Vol. 3: Quantum Mechanics: Non-relativistic Theory, page 28

2. (colloquial, in the singular) A mess; disorder; a bad condition or set of circumstances.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • Who the fuck undressed me? Try tracing back. It's now Sunday. Yesterday was Saturday. The semi-final at Hampden. I had got myself into some fucking state before and after the match.

     1994 , Irvine Welsh, “Traditional Sunday Breakfast”, in Trainspotting, London: Minerva, page 92

   • An absolute state of a visit: what the Trump and Windsor snapshots tell us [title]

     2019 June 3, Hannah Jane Parkinson, “An absolute state of a visit: what the Trump and Windsor snapshots tell us”, in The Guardian‎

3. (computing) The stable condition of a processor during a particular clock cycle.  examples

4. (computing) The set of all parameters relevant to a computation.  examples

5. (computing) The values of all parameters at some point in a computation.  examples

6. (sciences) The physical property of matter as solid, liquid, gas or plasma.  examples

7. (obsolete) Highest and stationary condition, as that of maturity between growth and decline, or as that of crisis between the increase and the abating of a disease; height; acme.

High social standing or circumstance.

1. Pomp, ceremony, or dignity.  examples

2. Rank; condition; quality.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • And leſned by that ſmall, God I beſeech him, / Thy honor, ſtate, and ſeate, is due to me.

     c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act I, scene iii]

3. Condition of prosperity or grandeur; wealthy or prosperous circumstances; social importance.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • Firſt, in princely behaviour and geſture, teaching him how he ſhould keep of a kind of ſtate, and yet, with a modeſt ſenſe of his misfortunes.

     1616, Francis Bacon, The History of Henry VII, of England, published 1786, page 139

   • Can this imperious lord forget to reign, / Quit all his ſtate, deſcend, and ſerve again ?

     1703, “The Thebais of Statius”, in Alexander Pope, transl., The Works of Alexander Pope, volume II, London: H. Lintont et al., published 1751, book I, page 145

4. A chair with a canopy above it, often standing on a dais; a seat of dignity; also, the canopy itself.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • […] and from the dore / Of that Plutonia Hall, inviſible / Aſcended his high Throne, which under ſtate / Of richeſt texture ſpred, at th’ upper end / Was plac’t in regal luſtre.

     1667, John Milton, “Book X”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […]; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, lines 443–447

   • He invented a way of coming into a Room backwards, which he ſaid ſhew’d more Humility, and leſs Affectation ; where other People ſtood, he ſat ; when he went to Court, he us’d to kick away the State, and ſit down by his Prince, Cheek by Choul […]

     1712, John Arbuthnot, Jonathan Swift [uncertain], “Jack’s Charms, or the Method by which he gain’d Peg’s Heart”, in John Bull Still In His Senses, London: John Morphew, page 13

5. (obsolete) A great person, a dignitary; a lord or prince.  quotations

   Quotations

   • We in the name of other Perſean ſtates,And commons of this mightie Monarchy,Preſent thee with the Emperiall Diadem.

     c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, (please specify the page)

   • They who to States and Governours of the Commonwealth direct their Speech, High Court of Parlament, or wanting ſuch acceſſe in a private condition, write that which they foreſee may advance the publick good ; I ſuppoſe them as at the beginning of no meane endeavour, not a little alter’d and mov’d inwardly in their mindes […]

     1644, John Milton, Areopagitica, page 1

6. (obsolete) Estate, possession.  quotations

   Quotations

   • Their parties great, meanes good, the ſeaſon fit, / Their practice cloſe, their faith ſuſpected not, / Their ſtates far off, and they of wary wit : / Who, with large promiſes, ſo wooe the Scot / To aide their Cauſe, as he conſents to it ; / And glad was to diſturne that furious ſtreame / Of warre, on vs, that elſe had ſwallowed them.

     1595, Samuel Daniel, “The Civile Wars between the Two Houses of Lancaster and Yorke”, in Alexander Balloch Grosart, editor, The Complete Works in Verse and Prose of Samuel Daniel, volume II, book IV, stanza 20, page 142

   • Your ’State, my Lord, again is yours.

     c. 1619, Philip Massinger, Nathan Field, “The Fatal Dowry”, in The Works of Philip Massinger, volume II, London: T. Davies, published 1761, [Act V, scene ii], page 271

A polity.

1. Any sovereign polity; a national or city-state government.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • Never do anything against conscience even if the state demands it.

     a. 1949, Albert Einstein, as quoted by Virgil Henshaw in Albert Einstein: Philosopher Scientist (1949)

   • It is tempting to speculate about the incentives or compulsions that might explain why anyone would take to the skies in [the] basket [of a balloon]: […]; […]; or perhaps to muse on the irrelevance of the borders that separate nation states and keep people from understanding their shared environment.

     2013 June 7, David Simpson, “Fantasy of navigation”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 36

2. A political division of a federation retaining a notable degree of autonomy, as in the United States, Mexico, Nigeria, or India.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

     1789, United States Bill of Rights

   • You do solemnly swear (or affirm, as the case may be) that you will support the constitution of the United States, and the constitution of the state of Connecticut, so long as you continue a citizen thereof; and that you will faithfully discharge, according to law, the duties of the office of […] to the best of your abilities.

     1839, John Beach, Thomas Clap Perkins, The public statute laws of the state of Connecticut, page 35

   • As Australia considers whether to allow states greater latitude in the indirect tax field, it must ask what it will do when (not if) it finally decides that the federal government should enact a modern general sales tax.

     1993, Charles E. McLure, Vertical fiscal imbalance and the assignment of taxing powers in Australia

   • The Central Lowlands is often referred to as the heart of America — and with good reason: If we look at the names of the eight states with populations of 10 million or more, this region has three of them, Illinois, Ohio, and Michigan, more than any one of the other five.

     2001, Angus Macleod Gunn, The Impact of Geology on the United States, page 0313314446

3. (obsolete) A form of government other than a monarchy.  quotations

   Quotations

   • Well monarchies may own religion’s name, / But ſtates are atheiſts in their very frame.

     1662, John Dryden, “Satire on the Dutch”, in The Works of the English Poets, volume XIII, London: R. Hett, published 1779, page 41

4. (anthropology) A society larger than a tribe. A society large enough to form a state in the sense of a government.

(mathematics, stochastic processes) An element of the range of the random variables that define a random process.  examples

(grammar, semantics) The lexical aspect (aktionsart) of verbs or predicates that do not change over time.  quotations  examples

(transitive) To declare to be a fact.  quotations  examples

(transitive) To make known.  examples

(obsolete) Stately.  quotations