state (n.1)

[mode or form of existence] c. 1200, stat, "circumstances, position in society, temporary attributes of a person or thing, conditions," from Old French estat "position, condition; status, stature, station," and directly from Latin status "a station, position, place; way of standing, posture; order, arrangement, condition," figuratively "standing, rank; public order, community organization."

This is a noun of action from the past-participle stem of stare "to stand" (from PIE root *sta- "to stand, make or be firm"). Some Middle English senses are via Old French estat (French état; see estate). The Latin word was adopted into other modern Germanic languages (German, Dutch staat) but chiefly in the political senses only.

The meanings "physical condition as regards form or structure," "particular condition or phase," and "condition with reference to a norm" are attested from c. 1300. The meaning "mental or emotional condition" is attested from 1530s (the phrase state of mind is attested by 1749); the specific colloquial sense of "an agitated or perturbed condition" is from 1837.

The meaning "splendor of ceremony, etc., appropriate to high office; dignity and pomp befitting a person of high degree" is from early 14c. Hence to lie in state "be ceremoniously exposed to view before interment" (1705) and keep state "conduct oneself with pompous dignity" (1590s).

He [the President] shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient. [U.S. Constitution, Article II, Section iii]

Sense in quantum physics is by 1913.

1590s, "to set in a position, fix (a date, etc.)," from state (n.1) "circumstances, position." The sense of "declare, recite, set down in detail in words" is attested by 1640s from the notion of "placing" the words on the record. Related: Stated; stating.

"political organization of a country; supreme civil power, the government; the whole people considered as a body politic," 1530s, from special use of state (n.1); this sense grew out of the meaning "condition of a country" with regard to government, prosperity, etc. (late 13c.), from Latin phrases such as status rei publicæ "condition (or existence) of the republic."

The sense of "a semi-independent political entity under a federal authority, one of the bodies politic which together make up a federal republic" is from 1774. The British North American colonies occasionally were called states as far back as 1630s.

State rights in U.S. political sense is attested from 1798 (the form states rights is recorded by 1824): the doctrine that states retain all rights and privileges not delegated to the federal government in the Constitution, in its extreme form including the power and right of sovereignty.

Often contrasted with ecclesiastical power in phrase church and state (1580s). State socialism attested from 1850 as "a scheme of government favoring enlargement of state functions as the directest way to achieve socialist goals."