Pronunciation: (i-stāt'), [key] —n., v., -tat•ed, -tat•ing. 1. a
piece of landed property, esp. one of large extent with an
elaborate house on it: to have an estate in the country. a.
property or possessions. b. the legal position or status of an
owner, considered with respect to property owned in land or
other things. c. the degree or quantity of interest that a
person has in land with respect to the nature of the right, its
duration, or its relation to the rights of others. d. interest,
ownership, or property in land or other things. e. the property
of a deceased person, a bankrupt, etc., viewed as an aggregate.
3. Brit.a housing development. 4. a period or condition of life:
to attain to man's estate. 5. a major political or social group
or class, esp. one once having specific political powers, as the
clergy, nobles, and commons in France or the lords spiritual,
lords temporal, and commons in England. 6. condition or
circumstances with reference to worldly prosperity, estimation,
etc.; social status or ran