status
nounIE, UK /ˈsteɪ.təs/ · CA, US /ˈsteɪt.əs/
Etymology A learned borrowing from Latin status. A doublet of state and estate.
7 senses
- 1A person’s condition, position or standing relative to…
- 2Prestige or high standing.
- 3A situation or state of affairs.
- 4The legal condition of a person or thing.
- 5The state (of a Canadian First Nations person) of being…
- 6A function of some instant messaging applications…
- 7Short for status epilepticus or status asthmaticus.
1
A person’s condition, position or standing relative to that of others.
- Superstition is highly correlated with economic status.
- This time, there’s no great discrepancy in status; both fiancés are part of the urban, white-collar middle class.2026 May 27, Judy Berman, “When Did On-Screen Weddings Get So Bleak?”, in TIME, archived from the original on 28 May 2026:
2
Prestige or high standing.
- The king has status in his kingdom, and the pauper has status within his immediate group of peers.1957, Gladys Sellew, Paul Hanly Furfey, Sociology and Its Use in Nursing Service, Saunders, page 81:
- It is no secret that the military was a bastion of racism and sexism keeping blacks and women in the housekeeping and other non-status jobs.1979 April 28, Mary A. Lowry, “Those Wonderful Women in Their Flying Machines (review)”, in Gay Community News, page 10:
3
A situation or state of affairs.
- Near-synonym: footing
- What's the status of the investigation?
2 more examples
- New York is known for its status as a financial center.
- If the takeover is approved, Comcast would control 20 of the top 25 cable markets, […]. Antitrust officials will need to consider Comcast's status as a monopsony (a buyer with disproportionate power), when it comes to negotiations with programmers, whose channels it pays to carry.2014 March 15, “Turn It Off”, in The Economist, volume 410, number 8878:
4
Law The legal condition of a person or thing.
6
A function of some instant messaging applications, whereby a user may post a message that appears automatically to other users, if they attempt to make contact.
- I'm just about to update my status to "busy".
- I read your status last night / You posted that someone else was holding you tight2012, “Facebook Drama”, performed by Northern Cree:
7
Medicine, Sciences Abbreviation Short for status epilepticus or status asthmaticus.
- Derived terms
48 terms
achieved status, antistatus, ascribed status, civil status, flight status, high-status, immunostatus, in status nascendi, low-status, marital status, master status, multistatus, nonstatus, non-status Indian, relationship status, senior status, serostatus, social status, status absolutus, status ailment, status bar, status card, status conference, status constructus, status dramaticus, status effect, statusful, status group, status Indian, status in quo, statusless, status line, statusmaxx, status mixtus, status offender, status offense, status quo, status quo ante, status quoism, status quoist, status rectus, status report, status strip, status symbol, status zer0, status zero, substatus, superstatus