# stance

> English word · Noun · IPA /stæns/ · frequency rank #6,627

## Definitions
1. The manner, pose, or posture in which one stands.
2. One's opinion or point of view.
3. A place to stand; a position, a site, a station.
4. A place to stand; a position, a site, a station.
5. A place for buses or taxis to await passengers; a bus stop, a taxi rank.
6. A place where a fair or market is held; a location where a street trader can carry on business.
7. A stanza.

## Etymology
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.

## Easily confused with
- **state** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stance-vs-state)
- **stand** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stance-vs-stand)
- **stone** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stance-vs-stone)
- **stare** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stance-vs-stare)
- **stave** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stance-vs-stave)
- **stank** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stance-vs-stank)
- **stands** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stance-vs-stands)
- **statue** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stance-vs-statue)
- **staple** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stance-vs-staple)
- **starve** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stance-vs-starve)
- **starch** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stance-vs-starch)
- **stench** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stance-vs-stench)
- **stanza** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stance-vs-stanza)
- **strange** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stance-vs-strange)
- **Stanley** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stance-vs-stanley)
- **staunch** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stance-vs-staunch)
- **stan** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stan-vs-stance)
- **sane** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sane-vs-stance)
- **since** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/since-vs-stance)
- **space** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/space-vs-stance)

## Common misspellings (10)
`satnce`, `sstance`, `stacne`, `stancce`, `stanec`, `stannce`, `stence`, `stnace`, `sttance`, `tsance`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/stance