A doublet of 'state,' both from Latin 'status' (standing) — the property sense grew from one's legal standing in land.
An extensive area of land in the country, usually with a large house; all the money and property owned by a person, especially at death; a class or order forming part of the body politic.
From Anglo-Norman 'estat,' from Old French 'estat' (modern French 'état'), from Latin 'status,' meaning 'state, condition, position,' from the past participle of 'stāre' (to stand). The Latin 'status' originally meant 'a standing, a position, a condition.' The property sense developed in English from the legal concept of one's 'estate' or 'status' in land — the nature and extent of one's legal interest in a property. 'Estate' is a doublet of 'state,' both words deriving from the same Latin source. Key roots:
The phrase 'the fourth estate' for the press was coined because medieval political theory recognized three estates of the realm — the clergy, the nobility, and the commoners — and the emerging power of journalism warranted its own designation as a quasi-political force.