It has been suggested that language can be discussed under General Discussion, pending a decision whether or not to create a separate subforum for the purpose.
Here I go then:
The English word "state" means
a) the political structure of a sovereign nation (or part thereof, as in the USA, where nevertheless the president is head of _state_, in the singular), and
b) the condition something or somebody is in, as in "he was found beside the road in a shocking state".
This double meaning is echoed by the French etat (pardon the lack of accents on my keyboard), Italian stato and others. I think there is a Latin homonimy lurking in the background.
Now my question is: what do these two meanings have in common, to warrant the use of the same word?
I was to write about another such similarity but I can't remember it at the moment, so this will be it for now. Thanks in advance for any enlightment.
PS: Oh yes I remember it now! That one's unique to English I think:
Function:
a) a relation uniquely assigning a value from a certain set to every element of another set,
b) the possibility, built into a device, to serve a particular purpose (a Swiss army knife with many functions),
and, most curiously to me,
c) a formal party or meeting.
I only learned this third meaning relatively recently, and it came as quite a surprise. I still haven't quite got the connection with the other meanings.
Cheers, L.