Status Symbol Is a Phrase From the 1950s
Status is position or standing. The phrase status symbol was coined by sociologists in the mid-twentieth century and spread into everyday speech.
Status is a person's standing, or the current state of anything. *Status symbol* is younger than it sounds: it entered English through American sociology in the 1950s, at exactly the moment when mass-produced goods made it possible for large numbers of people to buy the appearance of a higher position. The Latin phrase *status quo* has been in English far longer.
- Social standing. *High status.*
- Current state. *The status of the application.*
- Legal position. *Refugee status.*
- Status quo — the existing state of affairs. *Defend the status quo.*
- Status symbol — a possession signalling rank. *A car as a status symbol.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | status | Marital status. |
| Plural | statuses | Different statuses. |
| Compound | status quo | The status quo. |
| Related | state | The state of play. |
| Related | static | A static position. |
- Check the status of your order.The neutral sense.
- The reforms threatened the status quo.Latin phrase, kept whole.
- The watch was purely a status symbol.The 1950s coinage.
Latin phrases English kept whole
- Status quo — the existing state of affairs
- Per se — in itself
- Ad hoc — for this purpose only
- Bona fide — in good faith
- Vice versa — the other way round
Latin *status*, standing or condition, from *stare*, to stand. English used it in legal contexts from the 1600s and generalised it in the nineteenth century.
What is the plural of status?
Statuses in English. The Latin plural is also status, which is why the word looks awkward either way.
What does status quo mean literally?
The state in which. The fuller Latin phrase is status quo ante, the state in which things were before.