What is the difference between "estate" and "property" in the context of this sentence (from Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility)?
The family of Dashwood had long been settled in Sussex. Their estate was large, and their residence was at Norland Park, in the centre of their property, where, for many generations, they had lived in so respectable a manner as to engage the general good opinion of their surrounding acquaintance.
Best Answer
They are equivalent and interchangeable terms in the example given. My suspicion is that the writer simply didn't wish to use the same word twice in one sentence. There are variations of meaning between the two words, but in this context they mean exactly the same thing.