stance

Meanings

Noun

• The manner, pose, or posture in which one stands.
• One's opinion or point of view.
• A place to stand; a position, a site, a station.
• A place for buses or taxis to await passengers; a bus stop, a taxi rank.
• A place where a fair or market is held; a location where a street trader can carry on business.
• A stanza.

Verb

• To place, to position, to station; to put (cattle) into an enclosure or pen in preparation for sale.

Origin

• From Middle English staunce ("place to stand; battle station; position; standing in society; circumstance, situation; stanchion"), from Old French estance ("predicament; situation; sojourn, stay") (compare modern French stance ("stanza; position one stands in when golfing")), from Italian stanza ("room, standing place; stanza"), from Latin stāns ("standing; remaining, staying"), from Latin stō ("to stand; to remain, stay"), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- ("to stand (up)"). The word is cognate with Spanish estante ("shelf").
• The verb is derived from the noun.