Nouveau-Mexique, par exemple (4)

I believe the answer is:

etat

'nouveau-mexique par exemple' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)

This is the entire clue.

(Another definition for etat that I've seen is " Rank".)

I've seen this clue in The Washington Post, the L.A. Times Daily, the LA Times and the Wall Street Journal.

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