A condition or mode of being, as with regard to circumstances: a state of confusion. A condition of being in a stage or form, as of structure, growth, or development: the fetal state. A mental or emotional condition: in a manic state. Informal A condition of excitement or distress. Physics The condition of a physical system with regard to phase, form, composition, or structure: Ice is the solid state of water. Social position or rank. Ceremony; pomp: foreign leaders dining in state at the White House. The supreme public power within a sovereign political entity. The sphere of supreme civil power within a given polity: matters of state. A specific mode of government: the socialist state. A body politic, especially one constituting a nation: the states of Eastern Europe. One of the more or less internally autonomous territorial and political units composing a federation under a sovereign government: the 48 contiguous states of the Union. Of or relating to a body politic or to an internally autonomous territorial or political unit constituting a federation under one government: a monarch dealing with state matters; the department that handles state security. Owned and operated by a state: state universities. To set forth in words; declare.