Words that are easily confused

Statue/ stature/ statute

As all Thammasat University students know, the noun statue refers to a sculpted figure.

The noun stature means the height or importance of someone or something. The word statue and the word stature both derive from a Latin term meaning something that stands.

The noun statute means written law. It originates in a Latin word meaning something that is enacted or established.

To distinguish between these three words that look similar but have different meanings, we may invent a few sentences:

The statute determined the stature of the statue.

The statue’s stature was not decided by statute.

The statue of the lawmaker paid tribute to his stature, achieved when he enacted the statute.

Some usage examples:

• The Garuda Wisnu Kencana (GWK) statue in Badung regency, Bali, was not affected by the magnitude-7 earthquake, which struck Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, and Bali on Sunday night. Indonesian sculptor Nyoman Nuarta, who designed the statue, said he went to GWK Cultural Park a few hours after the earthquake, worrying about the cranes that could have toppled onto the statue and the welfare of the workers. He added that the statue was still intact. Nyoman told tempo.co that the statue was actually earthquake-proof, adding that he had considered the risk of earthquakes in the area. The GWK is a phenomenal landmark in Bali. The development of the statue started in 1989 and when it is completed it will be 121 meters tall, 30 m taller than the Statue of Liberty in the United States.
• Thief steals Heroines Statue sword from temple. A thief has stolen a sword that was part of a statue of Phuket’s Heroines in a temple in Thalang.
• Tourists snap selfies by a bronze statue of the diver who died trying to save the ‘Wild Boars’ football team from a flooded cave, while momentos from their rescue fly off the shelves — scooped up by the 1.3 million people who have descended on a once serene mountainside in northern Thailand.
• Victory Monument is among 15 memorials across the capital that are under the city’s landscape redevelopment plan. To proceed with the work, officials need to identify who owns or takes care of them as a prerequisite for seeking budgetary approval by city councillors. Other historic sites include the statues of King Rama I near Memorial Bridge, King Rama VI in Lumpini Park, King Taksin the Great at Wong Wian Yai, and Democracy Monument on Ratchadamnoen Avenue.
• Steeped in Buddhist traditions, Thais also appreciate a life of contentment and modesty. Adopting a mai pen rai attitude (meaning “no worries, no problem”), Thais try not to get ruffled by small daily transient inconveniences. Ubiquitous Buddhist temples and household Buddha statues serve to remind Thais of this way of life.
• Sustainable architecture gaining in stature. From the USE of solar panels and energy-efficient glass to combining design with forestry, sustainable architecture is reaching new heights in Asia, according to research by real estate agent JLL. In Thailand, the Thai Green Building Institute website shows 108 buildings applied for its certification with 36 having been certified under the silver, gold and platinum categories. The criteria for certification covers a projects’ design, construction process as well as energy sources.
• The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has vowed to deepen its support for Southeast Asia in development assistance, reflecting the region’s rising stature as a destination for trade and investment.
• Nothing was stated as to the probability of an increase in the stature of the French Congo animal as it grows older; but even if we allow another foot, its height would be considerably less than half that of a large Central African bull of the ordinary elephant.
• Since his time the anthropological researches of Broca, Thurnam and Davis, Huxley, Busk, Beddoe, Virchow, Tubino and others have proved the existence in Europe, from Neolithic times, of a race, small of stature, with long or oval skulls, and accustomed to bury their dead in tombs.
• As president of this august forum for the month of May, Indonesia is staring at a golden opportunity to be the change it wants to see in the world. As the third-largest democracy, a member of the one-trillion-dollar club of wealthiest nations, a founding member of the Non-Alignment Movement and a nation of growing stature in the Indo-Pacific, many have come to ascribe Indonesia a sense of responsibility — one that comes with its status as a rising middle power. A middle power is often characterized as a nation that wields considerable strength, resources and strategic value, which is often sought out for support by superpowers.
• Narongsak urged everyone supporting the search and rescue operation to register for an access card and heed his commands to ensure the mission proceeds safely and efficiently. Meanwhile, scuba divers, relatively small in stature, joined Navy SEAL divers on Monday in the push to reach so-called “Pattaya Beach” zone of the Tham Luang Cave where the 12 young footballers and their assistant coach are believed to be awaiting rescue.
• Hong Kong’s leaders, who are not popularly elected, say the law is needed to plug loopholes and stop the city being a bolthole for mainland fugitives. They say dissidents and critics will not be extradited and have urged the bill’s quick passage to extradite a Hong Kong man who is wanted in Taiwan for murdering his girlfriend.    But critics fear the law would entangle people in China’s opaque and politicised court system and say the government is using the Taiwan case as a Trojan Horse.    The proposed law has been fast-tracked through the city’s government-dominated legislature and on Wednesday it will receive its second reading, with plans to have the law on the statute book by late July.
• Statute of limitations revoked in illegal fishing cases. Section 44 of the interim constitution has been invoked to suspend the statute of limitations on illegal fishing cases in which the accused or defendants have fled during trial or after conviction.
• Some issues concerning the system of limitation system in legal actions cause many disputes in theory and practice as a result of the imperfections of the statute of limitations.
• In the years 1900 and 1902 acts were passed in Western Australia still more closely modelled on the New Zealand act than was the above-mentioned statute in New South Wales.
• The statute, however, would not seem to have had much effect; for in spite of a proclamation of Queen Elizabeth in 1560 imposing a fine of £ 20 for each offence on butchers slaughtering animals during Lent, in 1563 Sir William Cecil, in Notes upon an Act for the Increase of the Navy, says that “in old times no flesh at all was eaten on fish days; even the king himself could not have license; which was occasion of eating so much fish as now is eaten in flesh upon fish days.”
• The Light Railways Act and the Locomotives on Highways Act were added to the statute book in 1896, and various clauses in the Finance Act effected reforms in respect of the death duties, the land-tax, farmers’ income-tax and the beer duty.

(All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)