Statuary
/ˈstætʃuˌɛri/noun
A statue or a collection of statues; also, the art of making statues.
Did you know?Its deepest ancestor is the Proto-Indo-European root *steh₂-*, meaning “to stand,” which also gave us words like *state* and *stable*—so statues are literally built on the idea of standing still against time.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*steh₂-
“to stand”
Latin
LA
statuere
“to set up, place, establish”
Latin
LA
statuarius
“of or belonging to statues; a sculptor or maker of statues”
Old French
OF
statuarie
“statues; statuary work”
Middle English
EN
statuarie
“the art of making statues; statues collectively”
Modern English
EN
statuary
“a statue or collection of statues; the art of making statues”