state

A politically unified people occupying a territory (or one of the territories) of a government; the body politic as organized for civil rule and government. In the United States of America, there are 50 states, four of which call themselves commonwealths. Commonwealths are functionally non-distinct from states.

In all cases when used in the phrase state of or as an adjective construction, commonwealth and state are lowercase. Examples:

  • state of Minnesota
  • commonwealth of Massachusetts
  • state of Washington
  • state Rep. June Jean
  • state Department of Health
  • state coffers

The only exception is the federal department known as the U.S. Department of State, which is uppercase in both first formal reference and following references as State Department.

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