the.com/estate
where your stuff outlives you and your relatives finally stop pretending to like each other.
means All the property, possessions, money, and debts a person owns — often used specifically for what's left behind after death, or for a large piece of landed property.
from From Latin status, 'state, condition, standing' — the same root that gives us 'state' and 'status.' It traveled through Old French as estat into English, where it first meant your rank or condition in life. Over time the word slid from what you ARE to what you HAVE, so that a person's 'estate' came to mean their worldly standing measured in land and goods — and eventually the land and goods themselves.
- old meaning
- originally just meant your rank or condition in life
- fourth estate
- the press, named after three older power blocs
- real estate
- "real" means royal-rooted, not authentic
- probate
- courts take months to divide what death left behind
blenheim palace — churchill's birthplace in oxfordshire, england, built 1705-1722
versailles — french royal estate near paris covering 2,300 acres with 700+ rooms
hearst castle — william randolph hearst's mansion in san simeon, california, 250,000 sq ft
downton abbey — highclere castle estate in hampshire, england, used as filming location