1. A landed property, usually of considerable size.
2. The whole of one's possessions, especially all the property and debts left by one at death.
3. Law. The nature and extent of an owner's rights with respect to land or other property.
4. Chiefly British. A housing development.
5. The situation or circumstances of one's life: A child's estate gives way to the adult's estate.
6. Social position or rank, especially of high order.
7. A major social class, such as the clergy, the nobility, or the commons, formerly possessing distinct political rights.
8. Archaic. Display of wealth or power; pomp.

[Middle English estat, condition, from Old French. See state.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.