stance

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stance

/stæns/ Australia, Canada, US
[stɛəns] Canada, US
[stɛːns]
/stɑːns/ UK
/stɐːns/ Australia, New Zealand, South

Rhymes with -æns, -ɑːns

Where it 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.

noun stances

The manner, pose, or posture in which one stands. The fencer’s stance showed he was ready to begin.
One's opinion or point of view. I don’t agree with your stance on gun control.
Similar: position, posture, stand
A place to stand; a position, a site, a station. No! sooner may the Saxon lance / Unfix Benledi from his stance, / Than doubt or terror can pierce through / The unyielding heart of Robert Dhu; […]
specifically A foothold or ledge on which to set up a belay. In a harness belay, the stance itself is the belayer's first line of defense, reducing the load the anchor must hold. The anchor in this case serves as little more than a backup (albeit a critical one) to the stance.
Scotland A place for buses or taxis to await passengers; a bus stop, a taxi rank. The number of Carriages at each of the Stances or divisions of Stances, and the spaces to be occupied, shall be fixed from time to time as may be found necessary. In the event of any New Stance being appointed during the currency of these Regulations, if said Stance shall be within half a mile of th
Similar: stand
Scotland A place where a fair or market is held; a location where a street trader can carry on business. To the action by the proprietor of a tenement in burgh against the proprietor of the adjoining stance to recover one-half the cost of a mutual gable, of which the defender had taken the use, it was pleaded in defence (1) that the mutual gable having been erected by the common author of the parties n
Similar: stand
obsolete, rare A stanza. Other Muſique, and voyces; and this ſecond Stance was ſung, directing their obſeruance to the King. […] This ended the Phœbades ſung the third Stance.

verb stances · stancing · stanced

Scotland, transitive To place, to position, to station; (specifically) to put (cattle) into an enclosure or pen in preparation for sale. Rob Roy ſtood watch / On a hill for to catch / The booty for ought that I ſa', man, / For he ne'er advanced, / From the place he was ſtanc'd, / 'Till no more to do there at a' man, […]

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: posture, attitude, posturing, attitudinal, standing, stand, view, positioning, conduct, mood, position, approach, stature, outlook, guidance, situation

Translations

Every language

noun manner, pose, or posture in which one stands

Español	postura
中文	姿勢 /姿势 zīshì
Português	postura, posição
Français	position, posture
Deutsch	Einstellung, Positur
Italiano	postura
Română	poziție, postură
Русский	по́за póza, сто́йка stójka, положе́ние položénije, пози́ция pozícija
العربية	مَوْقِف mawqif

noun opinion or point of view

Español	postura, parecer
日本語	立場 tachiba, 姿勢 shisei, 態度 taido
中文	立場 /立场 lìchǎng, 姿態 /姿态 zītài, 態度 /态度 tàidù
Português	postura, posição
Français	position, attitude, point de vue
Deutsch	Haltung, Einstellung, Verhältnis, Standpunkt
Italiano	opinione, punto di vista, posizione, istanza
Русский	пози́ция pozícija, взгляд vzgljad, отноше́ние otnošénije, то́чка зре́ния tóčka zrénija
Tiếng Việt	quan điểm

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MLA

"stance." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/stance. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

stance. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/stance

Chicago

"stance." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/stance.

BibTeX

@misc{stance_2026,
  title = {stance},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/stance},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}