ppl. a. [f. STATE v. + -ED1. In early use perh. rather f. L. stat-us appointed, fixed, regular (see STATE a.) + -ED1.]
† 1. Fixed, regular in operation or occurrence; not occasional or fluctuating. Obs.
a. 1641. Bp. Mountagu, Acts & Mon. (1642), 124. Extraordinary singular courses, sometimes intervenient in naturall processes, alter not the generall, stated, habituall course of nature.
1719. De Foe, Crusoe, I. (Globe), 162. That altho’ there were no stated Inhabitants who liv’d on the Spot; yet that there might sometimes come Boats off from the Shore.
1752. Johnson, Rambler, No. 188, ¶ 2. The pleasure which men are able to give in conversation, holds no stated proportion to their knowledge or their virtue.
a. 1774. Goldsm., Surv. Exp. Philos., II. 134. Thus every four-and-twenty hours they have two regular and stated winds.
2. Of times, amounts, etc.: Fixed or settled by authority, agreement, custom, promise or prearrangement.
1667. O. Heywood, Heart-Treasure, xi. 129. ’Tis good for a Christian to keep up set and stated times of prayer.
1690. Child, Disc. Trade, i. 30. If a low stated Interest by Law be the cause of Riches, no Country would be poor,… all having it in their power to state their interest as low as they please by Law.
1777. Goldsm., Hist. Eng., IV. 341. None but men already possessed of a stated fortune, were allowed a privilege of carrying a gun.
1784. Cowper, Tiroc., 606. ’Tis not enough that Greek and Roman page, At stated hours, his freakish thoughts engage.
1804. J. Grahame, Sabbath (1823), 30. [He] Opens the book, and reverentially The stated portion reads.
1821. Bayley, Tower Lond., I. 194. A keeper, appointed by the king’s letters patent, with a stated salary.
1823. Southey, Penins. War, I. 387. All the French troops in Andalusia were to proceed by stated journies.
1884. E. Yates, Recoll., II. 202. I should get rid of the long familiar life of the Office, with its stated hours of attendance.
b. Of an action, ceremony, observance, etc.: Having its fixed time and manner; ‘set,’ not casual.
Stated meeting, one of the regular periodical meetings (of a society, an Oxford College) as distinguished from meetings occasionally called.
1697. (title) Stated Christian Conference asserted to be a Christian duty; or A plea for stated Conference.
1698. M. Henry, Life P. Henry, x. (1699), 165. It is of use in stated Prayer, ordinarily to observe a Method, according to the several Parts of Prayer.
1734. Watts, Reliq. Juv. (1789), 49. When a whole family sits down together, to make a regular and stated meal.
1856. N. Brit. Rev., XXVI. 61. This … is the proper course to be taken by ordinary Christian teachers, in their stated expositions of Scripture.
1867. Ruskin, Time & Tide, iii. § 12. Invite trustworthy persons of other classes to join your council; appoint time and place for its stated sittings.
1907. Colonial Soc. Massachusetts, April, 280. A Stated Meeting of the Society was held … on Thursday. Ibid. The Records of the last Stated Meeting were read and approved.
1915. (16 June) in Oxf. Univ. Gaz. At a Stated General Meeting held to-day the College [Brasenose] made a grant of £100 to the General Fund of the University.
c. Of a functionary, an employment: Recognized, regular, official.
1752. Wesley, Wks. (1872), II. 251. W. Harding who … was a stated Preacher.
1808. W. Wilson, Dissenting Churches, II. 28. The relish of his labour excited a desire after a stated ministry.
1861. Contrib. Eccl. Hist. Connecticut, 221. There is a disposition to supersede this ministry of pastors, by a ministry of stated supplies;—men employed to perform the duties of a pastor, but not inducted, in any appropriate way into the pastoral office.
1911. Webster, s.v., Stated clerk, in the Presbyterian churches of the United States, the secretary of a court.
† d. Definitely recognizable, decided; declared, avowed. Obs.
1651. Baxter, Inf. Bapt., 82. If Holiness of state here be a stated separation of the person from the world, to God.
1680. Spirit of Popery, 51. He … saith, That the King Erects a Papacy in himself more absurdly than the Pope did; and saith, That he is a stated Antichrist.
1687. [Shields], Hind let loose, 411. Nay, we are by this obliged, if ever we be in case, to bring these stated Enemies to God and the Country to condign punishment.
1719. De Foe, Crusoe, I. (Globe), 225. To carry me directly on to … Repentance … and … to a stated Reformation.
3. (In senses 7, 8 of the vb.) a. Of a law, rule, penalty: Formulated, explicitly set forth.
1681–6. J. Scott, Chr. Life (1747), III. 461. Now the Law obliges us under a certain stated Penalty to do and forbear what it commands and forbids.
1694. Collier, Ess. Mor. Subj., I. (1709), 133. Particular Satisfaction for every Affront in Conversation cannot be Awarded by Stated Laws.
1765. Blackstone, Comm., I. 92. What equity is, and how impossible in it’s very essence to be reduced to stated rules, hath been shewn. Ibid., 238. [Oppressions springing from sovereign power] must necessarily be out of the reach of any stated rule, or express legal provision. Ibid. (1768), III. xxvii. 435. A penalty in the nature of stated damages; as a rent of 5 l. an acre for ploughing up antient meadow.
b. Narrated, alleged as fact.
1787. Polwhele, Engl. Orator, II. 339. Adhere To stated Facts.
1909. Spectator, 25 Dec., 1093/1. In poetry, history, biography, and even in Holy Writ, we continually find the page … drawing its light and meaning from the stated words of quite unknown speakers.
c. Stated account: a statement of account that has been agreed to by the parties to a suit.
1765. J. T. Atkyns, Chanc. Rep. (1781), II. 1. When the defendant sets forth a stated account he shall not be obliged to go on upon a general one, because very often a stated account would unravel a perplexed affair.
1787. J. Mitford, Plead. Suits Chanc. (ed. 2), 208. A plea of a stated account is a good bar to a bill for an account.
1862. Waterston, Man. Commerce, 303. Stated Account, in the English law of accounts, is an account settled whether it be signed or not.
d. Law. Stated case, case stated: A summary of the points in dispute, drawn up by agreement of the parties to an action, to be presented to a court or an arbitrator in order to facilitate a speedy decision.
1899. Daily News, 15 May, 11/2. We [a firm of solicitors] take the liberty of sending you a print of a stated case herein, and of the decision of the Court of Session thereon.
