situation
See also: Situation
EnglishEdit
Alternative formsEdit
- scituation (hyper‐correct, obsolete)
EtymologyEdit
From Middle English situacioun, situacion, from Middle French situation, from Medieval Latin situatio (“position, situation”), from situare (“to locate, place”), from Latin situs (“a site”). Equivalent to situate + -ion.
PronunciationEdit
- enPR: sĭt-yo͞o-ā'shən, sĭch-o͞o-ā'shən, IPA(key): /sɪtjuːˈeɪʃən/, /sɪt͡ʃuˈ(w)eɪʃən/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -eɪʃən
NounEdit
situation (plural situations)
- The combination of circumstances at a given moment; a state of affairs.
- The United States is in an awkward situation with debt default looming.
- 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
- Then we relapsed into a discomfited silence, and wished we were anywhere else. But Miss Thorn relieved the situation by laughing aloud, and with such a hearty enjoyment that instead of getting angry and more mortified we began to laugh ourselves, and instantly felt better.
- The way in which something is positioned vis-à-vis its surroundings.
- The Botanical Gardens are in a delightful situation on the river bank.
- 1908 October, Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC:
- […] he being naturally an underground animal by birth and breeding, the situation of Badger's house exactly suited him and made him feel at home; while the Rat, who slept every night in a bedroom the windows of which opened on a breezy river, naturally felt the atmosphere still and oppressive.
- The place in which something is situated; a location.
- 1833, Thomas Hibbert and Robert Buist, The American Flower Garden Directory, page 142:
- [Hibíscus] speciòsus is the most splendid, and deserves a situation in every garden.
- 1833, Thomas Hibbert and Robert Buist, The American Flower Garden Directory, page 142:
- Position or status with regard to conditions and circumstances.
- (UK) A position of employment; a post.
- 1843, Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol:
- ‘Let me hear another sound from you,’ said Scrooge, ‘and you’ll keep your Christmas by losing your situation!
- 1913, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “Chapter 3”, in Sons and Lovers, London: Duckworth & Co. […], →OCLC:
- When he was nineteen, he suddenly left the 'Co-op' office, and got a situation in Nottingham.
- 1946, Vaughn Horton, Denver Darling, Milt Gabler, Choo Choo Ch'Boogie:
- You take a morning paper from the top of the stack
- And read the situations from the front to the back
- The only job that's open need a man with a knack
- So put it right back in the rack Jack.
- A difficult or unpleasant set of circumstances; a problem.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:difficult situation
- Boss, we've got a situation here…
- (US, film industry) An individual movie theater.
- 1950, United States. Congress. House. Committee on Ways and Means, Revenue Revision of 1950: Hearings Before the Committee (page 1805)
- This survey includes all key situations (including Paramount Gulf Theaters) as well as suburban runs and small-town situations.
- 1960, Motion Picture Herald (volumes 218-219, page 14)
- […] Craterian theatre, with a full-scale advance campaign and preliminary screenings held for opinion-makers. Results and reactions will be closely studied and, if popular, the idea will be extended to other situations.
- 1950, United States. Congress. House. Committee on Ways and Means, Revenue Revision of 1950: Hearings Before the Committee (page 1805)
- (slang) An outfit, garment, or look.
- She is working some sort of amazing burgundy chiffon situation with gold piping.
SynonymsEdit
- (combination of circumstances): condition, set up; see also Thesaurus:state
Related termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
position vis-à-vis surroundings
|
location
|
one's status with regard to circumstances
|
state of affairs
|
position of employment
|
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
See alsoEdit
ReferencesEdit
- Source for the definitions:
- Dictionary.com. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. [1] (accessed: March 10, 2007).
- situation in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- situation in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911
- situation at OneLook Dictionary Search
AnagramsEdit
FrenchEdit
EtymologyEdit
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
situation f (plural situations)
- situation (all meanings)
Derived termsEdit
- comédie de situation
- comique de situation
- homme de la situation
- mise en situation
- situation intéressante
DescendantsEdit
- → Romanian: situație
Further readingEdit
- “situation”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
InterlinguaEdit
NounEdit
situation (plural situationes)
SwedishEdit
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
situation c
DeclensionEdit
| Declension of situation | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | |||
| Indefinite | Definite | Indefinite | Definite | |
| Nominative | situation | situationen | situationer | situationerna |
| Genitive | situations | situationens | situationers | situationernas |