Word.ws English Dictionary

estate

UK/ɪˈsteɪt/

estate noun: the collective property and liabilities of someone, especially a deceased person. Also the ellipsis of estate car.

Noun

estate (plural estates)

  1. The collective property and liabilities of someone, especially a deceased person.
  2. (archaic) state; condition.
    • But when I came to mans eſtate,
      With hey ho, [the winde and the raine],
      Gainſt Knaues and Theeues men ſhut their gate.c. 1601–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
    • To remove therfore if it be possible, this great and sad oppression which through the strictnes of a literall interpreting hath invaded and disturb’d the dearest and most peaceable estate of houshold society, to the over-burdening, if not the over-whelming of many Christians better worth then to be...1643, John Milton, Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce
  3. (archaic) Status, rank.
    • God hath imprinted his authority in several parts, upon several estates of men.1651, Jer[emy] Taylor, The Rule and Exercises of Holy Living. […], 2nd edition, London: […] Francis Ashe […], →OCLC
  4. (archaic) The condition of one's fortunes; prosperity, possessions.
    • Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Romans 12:16
  5. (obsolete) A "person of estate"; a nobleman or noblewoman.
    • And anone came oute of a chamber to hym the fayrest lady that euer he sawe & more rycher bysene than euer he sawe Quene Gueneuer or ony other estat Lo sayd they syre Bors here is the lady vnto whome we owe alle oure seruyse / and I trowe she be the rychest lady and the fayrest of alle the world1485, Sir Thomas Malory, “xj”, in Le Morte Darthur, book XVI
    • Herod on his birthday made a supper to his lords, high captains, and chief estates of Galilee.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Mark 6:21
  6. (historical) 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 (Estates of the realm).
    • I am afraid that some of the nobles who are campaigning for it simply want to use the Estates to cut down the King's power and increase their own.1992, Hilary Mantel, A Place of Greater Safety, Harper Perennial, published 2007, page 115
    • The three estates of feudal lords, clergy and royal officers met in separate chambers, and exercised an advisory role.2011, Norman Davies, Vanished Kingdoms, Penguin, published 2012, page 202
  7. The nature and extent of a person's interest in, or ownership of, land.
  8. An (especially extensive) area of land, under a single ownership.
    • It has been a long time since new follies were springing up across the great estates of Britain. But the owners of Doddington Hall, in Lincolnshire, have brought the folly into the 21st century, by building a 30ft pyramid in the grounds of the Elizabethan manor.2014 September 7, “Doddington's garden pyramid is a folly good show: The owners of a Lincolnshire stately home have brought the folly into the 21st century, by building a 30ft pyramid [print edition...
  9. The landed property owned or controlled by a government or a department of government.
  10. (UK, derogatory, sometimes) A housing estate.
    • Professor Loretta Lees from King's College London's geography department says, "The word 'estate' has become synonymous with the term 'ghetto'. It's become a dirty word. Back in the '20s and '30s it didn't carry the same stigma."2012 October 19, Josephine McDermott, “London's new housing loses the 'dirty word'”, in BBC News
  11. (obsolete) The state; the general body politic; the common-wealth; the general interest; state affairs.
    • I call matter of estate not only the parts of sovereignty, but whatsoever[…]concerneth manifestly any great portion of people.1612, Francis Bacon, Of Judicature
  12. An organization's collective information technology resources.
    • This time, however, it only includes the static parameters that you expect to be consistent across your estate.2015, Peter Carter, Pro SQL Server Administration, page 82

Adjective

estate (not comparable)

  1. (euphemistic) Previously owned; secondhand.
    • an estate diamond; estate jewelry

Verb

estate (third-person singular simple present estates, present participle estating, simple past and past participle estated)

  1. (obsolete, transitive) To give an estate to.
  2. (obsolete, transitive) To bestow upon.

Also used as

estate is also the ellipsis of estate car.

estate meaning in Hindi, Marathi, Malayalam and Nepali

estate in Hindi

property and liabilities, especially of a deceased person
संपत्ति sampatti, संपदा sampdā
(extensive) area of land under single ownership
संपदा sampdā, सम्पत्ति sampatti

estate in Marathi

इस्टेट

estate in Malayalam

എസ്റ്റേറ്റ്

estate in Nepali

एस्टेट
More languagesFewer languages
estate in Arabic
مُمْتَلَكَات mumtalakāt, تَرِكَة tarika, عَقَار ʕaqār, تركة
estate in Thai
กองมรดก gɔɔng-mɔɔ-rá-dòk

Examples of estate in a sentence

  • A freehold property is an estate in fee simple absolute in possession.
  • The estate passes by the third clause in Mr Smith's deed to his son.
  • They failed to find any investors for the construction of new real estate on the north side.

All 40 example sentences with estate

Synonyms of estate

Forms of estate

Noun
pluralestates
Verb
third-person singular presentestates
present participleestating
past participleestated
pastestated

Plural of estate: estates

Origin of estate

From Middle English estat, from Anglo-Norman estat and Old French estat (French: état), from Latin status. Doublet of state and status.

Words formed from estate

Phrases with estate

1 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with estate

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about estate

What does estate mean?
Estate means the collective property and liabilities of someone, especially a deceased person.
What is estate in Hindi?
Estate in Hindi is संपत्ति (sampatti), संपदा (sampdā), सम्पत्ति (sampatti). See Estate meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is estate?
Estate can be a noun, an adjective or a verb.
How do you pronounce estate?
Estate is pronounced /ɪˈsteɪt/ (UK).
What is the plural of estate?
The plural of estate is estates.

Words near estate in the dictionary

  1. estancias
  2. estanciero
  3. estancieros
  4. Estanza
  5. Estanzuelas
  6. estate
  7. estate agency
  8. estate agent
  9. estate agents
  10. estate car
  11. estate cars

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: estate (page history and authors); estate (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); estate (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); estate (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-estate.ogg.

Cite this entry: “estate.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/estate. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.