Noun

(en noun)

*(William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)

*:when I came to man's estate

*(Bible), (w) xii. 16

*:Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate .

(label) Status, rank.

*(Jeremy Taylor) (1613–1677)

*:God hath imprinted his authority in several parts, upon several estates of men.

(label) The condition of one's fortunes; prosperity, possessions.

(label) 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 world

*(Bible), (w) vi. 21

*:Herod on his birthday made a supper to his lords, high captains, and chief estates of Galilee.

*(w) (1775-1864)

*:She's a duchess, a great estate .

(label) 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)).

*1992 , (Hilary Mantel), (A Place of Greater Safety) , Harper Perennial 2007, p.115:

*: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.

*2011 , (Norman Davies), Vanished Kingdoms , Penguin 2012, p.202:

*:The three estates of feudal lords, clergy and royal officers met in separate chambers, and exercised an advisory role.

(label) The nature and extent of a person's interest in, or ownership of, land.

An (especially extensive) area of land, under a single ownership.

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The collective property and liabilities of someone, especially a deceased person.

(label) A housing estate.

(label) The state; the general body politic; the common-wealth; the general interest; state affairs.

*(Francis Bacon) (1561-1626)

*:I call matters of estate not only the parts of sovereignty, but whatsoeverconcerneth manifestly any great portion of people.

Noun

(en noun)

Something with which a person or thing is endowed.

* 1791 , , Letter to Thomas Jefferson on racism and slavery (19 August 1791):

I suppose it is a truth too well attested to you, to need a proof here, that we are a race of beings, who have long labored under the abuse and censure of the world; that we have long been looked upon with an eye of contempt; and that we have long been considered rather as brutish than human, and scarcely capable of mental endowments .

* 1958 , , Speech to the United Parents Association:

We must not, in opening our schools to everyone, confuse the idea that all should have equal chance with the notion that all have equal endowments .

* 1980 , Ray Broadus Browne, Rituals and ceremonies in popular culture , page 230:

the woman with larger-than-usual breasts will be initially perceived only as a sex object if she doesn't take steps to disguise her endowment .

* 1985 , , Interview on The Open Mind (11 May 1985):

What is … important is that we — number one: Learn to live with each other. Number two: try to bring out the best in each other. The best from the best, and the best from those who, perhaps, might not have the same endowment .

* 2006 , Natalie R. Collins, Wives and Sisters , page 54:

Tami also had huge breasts, and every teenage boy wanted to touch them. Tami, knowing she was not beautiful, used her endowment to great advantage.

Property or funds invested for the support and benefit of a person or not-for-profit institution.

* 1884 , , in chapter 8 of his novella Flatland :

Not content with the natural neglect into which Sight Recognition was falling, they began boldly to demand the legal prohibition of all "monopolizing and aristocratic Arts" and the consequent abolition of all endowments for the studies of Sight Recognition, Mathematics, and Feeling.

* 1932 , , after assuming the presidency of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

I seem to see a great university, great in endowment , in land, in buildings, in equipment, but greater still, second to none, in its practical idealism, and its social usefulness.

* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-06, volume=408, issue=8843, page=68, magazine=(The Economist)

, title= The rise of smart beta , passage=Investors face a quandary. Cash offers a return of virtually zero in many developed countries; government-bond yields may have risen in recent weeks but they are still unattractive. Equities have suffered two big bear markets since 2000 and are wobbling again. It is hardly surprising that pension funds, insurers and endowments are searching for new sources of return.}}