different between state vs content

English

Etymology

Middle English (as a noun); adopted c. 1200 from both Old French estat and Latin status (“manner of standing, attitude, position, carriage, manner, dress, apparel; and other senses”), from stare (“to stand”). Doublet of estate and status. The sense of "polity" develops in the 14th century. Compare French être, Greek ???? (stéo), Italian stare, Portuguese estar, Romanian sta, and Spanish estar.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /ste?t/
• Rhymes: -e?t

Noun

state (plural states)

2. A condition; a set of circumstances applying at any given time.
   1. (physics) A complete description of a system, consisting of parameters that determine all properties of the system.
      • 1977, J. B. Sykes and John Stewart Bell, translating Lev Landau and Evgeny Lifshitz, Course of Theoretical Physics Vol. 3: Quantum Mechanics: Non-relativistic Theory, p.28:

        States in which the energy has definite values are called stationary states of a system; they are described by wave functions ?_n which are the eigenfunctions of the Hamiltonian operator, i.e. which satisfy the equation ??_n = E_n?_n, where E_n are the eigenvalues of the energy.

   2. (computing) The stable condition of a processor during a particular clock cycle.

   3. (computing) The set of all parameters relevant to a computation.

   4. (computing) The values of all parameters at some point in a computation.

   5. (sciences) The physical property of matter as solid, liquid, gas or plasma.
   6. (obsolete) Highest and stationary condition, as that of maturity between growth and decline, or as that of crisis between the increase and the abating of a disease; height; acme.
3. High social standing or circumstance.
   1. Pomp, ceremony, or dignity.

   2. Rank; condition; quality.
      • c. 1593, William Shakespeare, Richard III, [Act I, Scene iii]:

        And le?ned by that ?mall, God I be?eech him, / Thy honor, ?tate, and ?eate, is due to me.

   3. Condition of prosperity or grandeur; wealthy or prosperous circumstances; social importance.
   4. A chair with a canopy above it, often standing on a dais; a seat of dignity; also, the canopy itself.
   5. (obsolete) A great person, a dignitary; a lord or prince.
      • 1644, John Milton, Aeropagitica, page 1:

        They who to States and Governours of the Commonwealth direct their Speech, High Court of Parlament, or wanting ?uch acce??e in a private condition, write that which they fore?ee may advance the publick good?; I ?uppo?e them as at the beginning of no meane endeavour, not a little alter’d and mov’d inwardly in their mindes […]

   6. (obsolete) Estate, possession.
5. A polity.
   1. Any sovereign polity; a national or city-state government.
      • a. 1949, Albert Einstein, as quoted by Virgil Henshaw in Albert Einstein: Philosopher Scientist (1949)

        Never do anything against conscience even if the state demands it.
   2. A political division of a federation retaining a notable degree of autonomy, as in the United States, Germany, or Australia.
   3. (obsolete) A form of government other than a monarchy.
   4. (anthropology) A society larger than a tribe. A society large enough to form a state in the sense of a government.
6. (mathematics, stochastic processes) An element of the range of the random variables that define a random process.
7. (grammar, semantics) The lexical aspect (aktionsart) of verbs or predicates that do not change over time.

   Antonym: occurrence

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Pages starting with “state”.

Translations

Verb

state (third-person singular simple present states, present participle stating, simple past and past participle stated)

1. (transitive) To declare to be a fact.

   • Carried somehow, somewhither, for some reason, on these surging floods, were these travelers, of errand not wholly obvious to their fellows, yet of such sort as to call into query alike the nature of their errand and their own relations. It is easily earned repetition to state that Josephine St. Auban's was a presence not to be concealed.

2. (transitive) To make known.

Usage notes

State is stronger or more definitive than say. It is used to communicate an absence of reasonable doubt and to emphasize the factual or truthful nature of the communication.

Synonyms

• See Thesaurus:communicate

Translations

Adjective

state (comparative more state, superlative most state)

1. (obsolete) Stately.

Related terms

• estate
• statistics
• status
• State

See also

• department
• province

Further reading

• state on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

References

• state at OneLook Dictionary Search
• state in Keywords for Today: A 21st Century Vocabulary, edited by The Keywords Project, Colin MacCabe, Holly Yanacek, 2018.
• state in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• state in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• Satet, Testa, Tetas, aetts, atest, taste, teats, testa

Afrikaans

Noun

state

1. plural of staat

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?sta.te/
• Rhymes: -ate
• Hyphenation: stà?te

Etymology 1

Apheretic form of estate.

Noun

state f (plural stati)

1. (Tuscany) Alternative form of estate

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the main entry.

Verb

state

1. inflection of stare:
   1. second-person plural present indicative
   2. second-person plural imperative

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the main entry.

Participle

state

1. feminine plural of stato

Anagrams

• setta, testa

References

• state in Dizionario Italiano Olivetti

Latin

Verb

st?te

1. second-person plural present active imperative of st?

Participle

state

1. vocative masculine singular of status

English

Etymology 1

From Middle French content (“satisfied”), from Latin contentus (“contained; satisfied”), past participle of contin?re (“to contain”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: k?nt?nt', IPA^(key): /k?n?t?nt/
• Hyphenation: con?tent

Adjective

content (comparative more content or contenter, superlative most content)

2. Satisfied, pleased, contented.

   • This new-comer was a man who in any company would have seemed striking. […] He was smooth-faced, and his fresh skin and well-developed figure bespoke the man in good physical condition through active exercise, yet well content with the world's apportionment.

Translations

Noun

content (uncountable)

1. Satisfaction, contentment; pleasure.

   They were in a state of sleepy content after supper.

   • 1788, Mary Wollstonecraft, Mary, Oxford 2009, p. 51:

     ‘It is very difficult to […] learn to seek content, instead of happiness.’

   • 1791, Elizabeth Inchbald, A Simple Story, Penguin 2009, p. 287:

     ‘I understand you—upon every other subject, but the only one, my content requires, you are ready to obey me.’

   • c. 1591, William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part 2: Act 1, Scene 1

     Such is the fullness of my heart's content.
2. (obsolete) Acquiescence without examination.
   • 1711, Alexander Pope, An Essay on Criticism

     The sense they humbly take upon content.

3. That which contents or satisfies; that which if attained would make one happy.
   • c. 1591, William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part 2: Act 1, Scene 1

     So will I in England work your grace's full content.

4. (Britain, House of Lords) An expression of assent to a bill or motion; an affirmate vote.
5. (Britain, House of Lords, by metonymy) A member who votes in assent.

Derived terms

• contentment
• contentness
• discontent
• malcontent
• to one's heart's content

Interjection

content

1. (archaic) Alright, agreed.

Verb

content (third-person singular simple present contents, present participle contenting, simple past and past participle contented)

2. (transitive) To give contentment or satisfaction; to satisfy; to make happy.
   • 1611, King James Version of the Bible, Mark 15:15,^[1]

     And so Pilate, willing to content the people, released Barabbas unto them, and delivered Jesus, when he had scourged him, to be crucified.

   • 1741, Isaac Watts, The Improvement of the Mind, London: James Brackstone, Part I, Chapter 14, p. 194,^[2]

     Do not content yourselves with meer Words and Names, lest your laboured Improvements only amass a heap of unintelligible Phrases, and you feed upon Husks instead of Kernels.

   • 2016, Felicity Cloake, “How to make the perfect cacio e pepe,” The Guardian, 3 November, 2016,^[3]

     Caz Hildebrand and Jacob Kenedy recommend rigatoni in the Geometry of Pasta, and Christopher Boswell, the chef behind the Rome Sustainable Food project, prefers wholemeal paccheri or rigatoni in his book Pasta, on the basis that “the flavour of the whole grain is strong enough to stand up to the sharp and salty sheep’s milk cheese” (as I can find neither easily, I have to content myself with brown penne instead).

3. (transitive, obsolete) To satisfy the expectations of; to pay; to requite.
   • c. 1599 William Shakespeare, Richard III, Act III, Scene 2,^[4]

     Come the next Sabbath, and I will content you.

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English content (plural contentes, contence), from Latin contentus, past participle of contin?re (“to hold in, contain”), as Etymology 1, above. English apparently developed a substantive form of the adjective, which is not mirrored in Romance languages.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?k?n.t?nt/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /?k?n.t?nt/
• (US) enPR: k?n't?nt, IPA^(key): /?k?n.t?nt/
• Hyphenation: con?tent

Adjective

content (comparative more content, superlative most content)

1. (obsolete) Contained.

Noun

content (countable and uncountable, plural contents)

1. (uncountable) That which is contained.
2. Subject matter; that which is contained in writing, speech, video, etc.
3. The amount of material contained; contents.

4. (obsolete) Capacity for containing.
5. (mathematics) The n-dimensional space contained by an n-dimensional polytope (called volume in the case of a polyhedron and area in the case of a polygon).
6. (algebra, ring theory, of a polynomial with coefficients in a GCD domain) The greatest common divisor of the coefficients; (of a polynomial with coefficients in an integral domain) the common factor of the coefficients which, when removed, leaves the adjusted coefficients with no common factor that is noninvertible.

Derived terms

Translations

Related terms

Further reading

• content in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• content in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• Connett

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin contentus.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Valencian) IPA^(key): /kon?tent/
• (Central) IPA^(key): /kun?ten/

Adjective

content (feminine contenta, masculine plural contents, feminine plural contentes)

1. content, satisfied, pleased

   Antonym: descontent

Derived terms

• descontent

Further reading

• “content” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “content” in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana.
• “content” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “content” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

French

Etymology 1

From Middle French content, from Old French, borrowed from Latin contentus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /k??.t??/
• Homophones: comptant, contant, contents

Adjective

content (feminine singular contente, masculine plural contents, feminine plural contentes)

1. content, satisfied, pleased

Derived terms

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the main entry.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /k??t/

Verb

content

1. third-person plural present/subjunctive of conter

Further reading

• “content” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Louisiana Creole French

Etymology

From French content (“content”), compare Haitian Creole kontan.

Verb

content

1. to be contented

References

• Alcée Fortier, Louisiana Folktales

Middle French

Etymology

From Old French content, borrowed from Latin contentus.

Adjective

content m (feminine singular contente, masculine plural contens, feminine plural contentes)

1. happy; satisfied; content

Descendants

• French: content

Norman

Alternative forms

• caontent (Guernsey)

Etymology

From Old French, borrowed from Latin contentus (“having been held together, contained”), from contine?, contin?re (“hold or keep together, surround, contain”).

Adjective

content m

1. (Jersey) happy