staand

Staand is a Dutch adjective meaning standing or upright. It is derived from the verb staan, “to stand,” and is used to describe objects or persons that occupy an upright position, as well as certain abstract senses related to position or state. Etymology traces the word to Proto-Germanic *standaną, with cognates in related languages such as German stehen/stehend and English standing.

In modern Dutch, staand is typically used attributively before a noun in the form staande, as in staande lamp (standing lamp) or staande positie (upright position). In predicative clauses, Dutch usually expresses position with the verb staan (het object staat), while the participial form staand appears mainly in descriptive or technical texts, or in older orthography. The spelling and usage can vary with dialect and context, but staande is the more common attributive form in standard Dutch.

The word also appears in proper nouns and as a surname. It is primarily a descriptive adjective and does not denote a separate concept beyond its positional meaning, though it frequently arises in discussions of architecture, design, sculpture, and other fields where upright orientation is relevant.

See also: German stehend; English standing; Dutch staan.