1. a politically organized body of people under a single government
e.g. the state has elected a new president
African nations
students who had come to the nation's capitol
the country's largest manufacturer
an industrialized land
Synonym: statenationcountrylandres publicabody politic
2. a political system in which the supreme power lies in a body of citizens who can elect people to represent them
3. a world organization of autonomous states that are united in allegiance to a central power but are not subordinate to it or to one another
4. the official name of some states in the United States (Massachusetts and Pennsylvania and Virginia and Kentucky) and associated territories (Puerto Rico)