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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

stance.

The manner, pose, or posture in which one stands.

6 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/stæns/Australia, Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation, uncommon[stɛəns]Canada, General-American[stɛːns]/stɑːns/Received-Pronunciation

  1. The manner, pose, or posture in which one stands.

    The fencer’s stance showed he was ready to begin.

  2. One's opinion or point of view.

    I don’t agree with your stance on gun control.

  3. A place to stand; a position, a site, a station.

  4. A place to stand; a position, a site, a station. A foothold or ledge on which to set up a belay.

    specifically

  5. A place for buses or taxis to await passengers; a bus stop, a taxi rank.

    Scotland

  6. A place where a fair or market is held; a location where a street trader can carry on business.

    Scotland

  7. A stanza.

    obsolete · rare
Where this word comes from

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 Vulgar Latin *stantia, 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”) and a doublet of stanza. The verb is derived from the noun. Compare typologically Czech postoj (“stance (the way of holding a body); stance (point of view)”) (cognate via PIE). Also see position, posture.

verb/stæns/Australia, Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation, uncommon[stɛəns]Canada, General-American[stɛːns]/stɑːns/Received-Pronunciation

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

    Scotland · transitive
Where this word comes from

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 Vulgar Latin *stantia, 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”) and a doublet of stanza. The verb is derived from the noun. Compare typologically Czech postoj (“stance (the way of holding a body); stance (point of view)”) (cognate via PIE). Also see position, posture.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.