state housen.
/ˈsteɪt haʊs/, U.S. /ˈsteɪt ˌhaʊs/ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > deliberative, legislative, or administrative assembly > local government body > [noun] > local government offices > town-hall
guild-hall?a1000
tolsel1373
toll-hall1395
tollbooth1440
common house1450
town hallc1453
townhouse?1518
state housea1587
City Hall1603
a1587 L. Aldersey in R. Hakluyt Princ. Navigations (1589) 150 He shewed me first the State-house, which is very faire, and beautifull.
1610 Bp. J. Hall Common Apol. against Brownists ix. 23 Is it no City, if there be mud-walles halfe-broken, low Cottages vnequally built, no state-house?
a1661 W. Brereton Trav. (1844) 19 Delph hath..the finest state-house said to be in all the seventeen provinces.
1705 Philos. Trans. Royal Soc. 2 181 To whom Mr. Lad had also presented one of the Compasses, as he had done the other to an English Merchant in Amsterdam, who gave it to the State-house.
1756 M. Calderwood Lett. & Jrnls. (1884) 111 The State-house [at Amsterdam] you have seen a print of.
1842 Encycl. Brit. IX. 715/1 Foligno..contains eight churches, twelve monasteries, eight nunneries, and a magnificent state-house.
1866 C. Knight Geogr. I. 327/1 It [sc. Arnheim] has..a small Lutheran church, a governor's residence, and a very old-fashioned state-house.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > public building > [noun]
hall1297
school?a1425
common house1537
basilica1541
public house1560
public building1561
state house1593
prytaneum1673
house of call1699
basilic1728
zayat1823
civic centre1867
jong1904
1593 T. Nashe Christs Teares f. 65v It is an easie matter to prayse God, in that wherein hee hath placed the especiall state-house of his praises.
3. A building in which the governing body or legislative assembly of a nation meets; spec. the senate house of ancient Rome. Also figurative. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > deliberative, legislative, or administrative assembly > governing or legislative body of a nation or community > [noun] > place of meeting
Parliament chamber1410
parliament house1440
senatoire1474
senatory1474
senate-house?1556
state house1608
senate1616
Thing-field1847
Thing-stead1847
1608 T. Heywood Rape of Lucrece sig. D3v The time that should haue been seriously spent in the State house, I ha learnt securely to spend in a wenching house.
1614 W. Raleigh Hist. World i. ii. xxiii. §4. 574 Pacuuius in Capua..lockt the Senators vp within the State-house, and offered their liues to the Peoples mercie.
1715 tr. Cicero Rom. Conduct in quashing Catiline's Conspiracy 105 The State-House, the great Help of all Nations.
1809 J. M. Gosset tr. J. B. G. Dumesnil Lat. Synonyms 157 Curia, the state-house where the senate assembled.
1878 B. F. Taylor Between Gates (1883) 11 Who marvels Mount Sinai was the State House of God?
2008 R. L. Ellett Emerging Judicial Power in Transitional Democracies vi. 313 When..the Standing Order was first passed riots and violence engulfed the state house.
4.
a. In some of the British colonies in North America: the building used for the transaction of the public affairs of the colony. Also: †the building used by a North American Indian people for its deliberative assemblies (obsolete). Now historical.After the Declaration of Independence (1776) many of the state houses of the former British colonies continued to be used for deliberative and legislative purposes; cf. sense 4b.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > deliberative, legislative, or administrative assembly > [noun] > place of > hall, house, or room > in foreign country > native American
state house1624
council house1751
society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > deliberative, legislative, or administrative assembly > governing or legislative body of a nation or community > other national governing or legislative bodies > [noun] > member of upper house in Carolina colony > place of American colonial
state house1624
1624 J. Smith Gen. Hist. Virginia iii. sig. N5v (caption) State house.
1654 E. Johnson Hist. New-Eng. 109 The Indian King..gathered together his chiefe Counsellors, and..afterward gave them Audience, in a State-house, round, about fifty foot wide, made of long poles stuck in the ground.
1662 in Arch. Maryland (1883) I. 434 The Vpper howse took into Consideracion the place for the Seateing of the State howse.
1709 J. Lawson New Voy. Carolina 37 In these [Indian] State-Houses is transacted all Publick and Private Business, relating to the Affairs of the Government.
1739 T. Salmon Mod. Hist. (new ed.) III. x. 500/2 The Capitol, or State-house, where the general assembly sits.
1774 G. Washington Writings (1889) II. 438 Dined at the State House, at an entertainment given by the city [of Philadelphia] to the members of the Congress.
1775 J. Adair Hist. Amer. Indians 241 A commissioner..took him into custody, in the great square of their state-house: when..one of the head warriors rose up, and bade him forbear.
1859 J. Hall Examples of Revol. 4 Those men..came to the old State House of the colony of Pennsylvania eighty-three years ago, to convert it into a Hall of National Independence.
1872 W. Meade Old Churches, Ministers & Families Virginia I. vi. 94 Williamsburg, where the College, State-House, and Governor's palace quite eclipsed any thing which had ever been seen at Jamestown.
1922 Rhode Island Hist. Soc. Coll. 8 51 The picture shows the Colony House (State House) which was not built until 1739.
2001 C. R. Lounsbury From Statehouse to Courthouse 54 The functions of the courthouse varied significantly from those of the colonial state house.
b. U.S. The building in which a state legislature meets; a state capitol.In early use frequently referring to the same building formerly used in colonial times (see sense 4a).
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > deliberative, legislative, or administrative assembly > governing or legislative body of a nation or community > other national governing or legislative bodies > [noun] > in U.S.A. > legislative body of state or territory > place of
Capitol1699
state house1778
1778 Remembrancer 5 245/2 Yesterday the General Assembly of this State convened at the State-House in this town [sc. Boston].
1786 E. Watson in W. C. Watson Men & Times Revol. (1861) xx. 282 The State House, the Capitol of Maryland.
a1817 T. Dwight Trav. New-Eng. & N.-Y. (1821) I. 495 The State-house [at Boston, Mass.]..has a most noble and commanding position.
1834 C. D. Arfwedson United States I. 318 The Capitol, as it is called, or Statehouse occupied by the legislature of the State.
1861 Acts State Ohio 58 97 For the payment of the salary of the janitor of the state house, eight hundred dollars.
1908 W. Churchill Mr. Crewe's Career ix. 134 I'll call in on you at the State-house day after to-morrow.
1952 J. Lait & L. Mortimer U.S.A. Confidential ii. xi. 95 Rhode Island is so tiny no member of the legislature lives more than an hour from the State House.
2006 New Yorker 31 July 29/2 He formed the Center for Moral Clarity, to educate citizens nationwide about legislation in statehouses and Congress.
5. New Zealand. A house owned and let by the government. Cf. council house n. 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > dwelling place or abode > a dwelling > a house > types of house > [noun] > house owned by public authorities
council house1923
state house1937
1937 O. Wilson Let. from N.Z. in R. Postgate Pocket Hist. Brit. Workers 97/2 £5 million is being made available for the building of State houses, for rental.
1964 N.Z. Listener 11 Dec. 5/3 It was a state house with shrubs and flowers in a street full of state houses with flowers and shrubs.
1978 B. Mason in Islands Aug. 15 After years of waiting, they got a State house last summer.
2010 Dominion Post (Wellington, N.Z.) (Nexis) 25 Oct. With..a third of state houses occupied for more than 10 years by the same family, time-limited tenancies could be introduced.
Compounds
General attributive (chiefly in sense 4).
ΚΠ
1671 Rec. N. Amsterdam VI. 308 The Stone Well in the State-House-Yard.
1761 Scots Mag. 23 App. 706/2 The State-house Green, or Garden, by a law of the province, is already set apart for that use.
1782 J. Greenman Jrnl. 13 May in Diary of Common Soldier (1978) 248 A very Ellegant Fireworks was displayed in the State house yard.
1830 O. W. Holmes Dorchester Giant 10 He brought them a pudding..As big as the State-House dome.
1878 E. McPherson Hand-bk. Polit. 58/2 Two pistol shots were fired..into the lower story of the State House building.
1908 W. Churchill Mr. Crewe's Career xi. 167 Austen took his way slowly across the State-house park.
1973 T. Crouse Boys on Bus i. ii. 40 I've been a city-side reporter, a statehouse reporter, I've done the whole bit.
1995 Evening Post (Wellington, N.Z.) (Nexis) 2 Jan. 15 People coming to the Salvation Army for help..now tended to be State house tenants unable to afford the rent rises.
2001 Nation (N.Y.) 1 Oct. 18/1 Adding a few progressives to the Statehouse legislative mix..is not going to make much of a difference.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2012; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.a1587