- status
- 1671, "height," later "legal standing of a person" (1791), from L. status "condition, position, state, manner, attitude," from stare "to stand," from PIE base *sta- "to stand" (see stet). Sense of "social or professional standing" is from 1820. Status symbol first recorded 1955. Status quo is 1833, from L. status quo (ante) "the state in which (before)."