Statues

How to spell statues

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce statues

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does statues mean?

1. nounCarved or cast figures of people or animals, made of stone, metal, or similar material and displayed standing upright.

Statues in a sentence

• The museum garden was lined with marble statues of ancient generals.

• Vandals had splashed paint across the bronze statues in the square.

Where does statues come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This is the plural of statue, which English borrowed from Old French in the late 1300s. The French word came directly from the Latin statua, meaning a cast or carved image set up to stand on display. That noun grew out of the verb statuere, 'to set up' or 'to cause to stand', which itself rests on the very old root stare, simply meaning 'to stand'. The same standing root runs through a whole family of English words, including stature, status, station, and stable, all of which carry the idea of being fixed in place. Knowing that the word is built on 'stand' helps explain the single t in statues, which keeps it distinct from statutes, the written laws, that have a second t from the related but separate Latin statutum.

How the word is built

• statu- (from Latin statua, a standing image, from stare 'to stand')
• -e (noun)
• -s (plural)