Status is an English word which has developed considerably over time.
It originated from classical Latin where it had a wide range of meanings from stature to station in life, similar to the range seen in English.
Its first use was in 1577 in a book Description of England. Its author Harrison gives a good account of what England was like at the time of Shakespeare. In a chapter called Of the manner of measuring the length and breadth of things after the English usage Harrison states that “the height of a man is status”. There is then an extensive description of various units, not surprising for a country where measurement only of length has such a wide range of units such as line, inch, foot, yard, mile, links, chain, furlong, hand, chain and rod. Such is the status or state of this defender.
It was almost 200 years that status took on a legal meaning. It´s first use in 1767 was explained “Such is the status or state of this defender.” Gradually the meaning of legal standing became a common meaning with legal status becoming a common phrase. At the same time, the word also was applied to rank or position in life. The first use in the context was in 1818 when a magazine reports that “there is a sort of conventional status” for anyone who lives in a social context.
But it was only after the Second World War that the status symbol arrived. The British psychologist Tom Pear mentioned them for the first time in 1955, stating that they are “sign-vehicles, cues which determine the status to be imputed to a person”. Finally there was a phrase for a clear external indication for social status.
