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distance: distance: [13] Etymologically, things that are distant stand far apart from each other. The word comes via Old French from Latin distantia, an abstract noun formed from distāns, the present participle of distāre ‘be remote’. This was a compound verb formed from the prefix dis- ‘apart’ and stāre ‘stand’ (source of English state, station, statue, etc and related to English stand).
=> stand, state, station, statue
instant: instant: [15] Latin instāre meant ‘be present’ (it was a compound verb formed from the prefix in- ‘upon’ and stāre ‘stand’). Its present participle instāns was used adjectivally for ‘present’, and hence by extension for ‘urgent’. The latter was actually the meaning originally taken up by English, but it has now virtually died out. ‘Present’ was introduced in the mid-16th century (it now survives in the abbreviation inst, used in giving dates to signify ‘the present month’), and by the end of the century this had evolved into the main current sense ‘immediate’.

The noun instant ‘moment’ comes from medieval Latin tempus instāns ‘present time’. Derived from instāns was the Latin noun instantia ‘presence, urgency’. Again it was the latter that originally came into English with instance [14]. The main modern sense ‘example’, first recorded in the 16th century, appears to come ultimately from a semantic progression in medieval Latin from ‘urgency’ to ‘eager solicitation’ and hence to ‘legal pleading’.

Further metaphoricization took it on to ‘new argument or example adduced to counter a previous one’, and hence in due course to simply ‘example’.
=> instance, stand, station, statue
statue: statue: [14] A statue is etymologically something that has been ‘set up’ or ‘erected’. The word comes via Old French statue from Latin statua, a derivative of statuere ‘cause to stand, erect, establish’ (source of English constitute, destitute [14], institute, prostitute, restitution [13], statute [13], and substitute [16]).

This in turn was formed from status (source of English state and status), the past participle of Latin stāre ‘stand’ (source of English contrast [16], cost, stage, station, stay, etc). And stāre came ultimately from the Indo-European base *stā- ‘stand’, which is also the ancestor of English stable, stand, stead, stem, etc.

Amongst the host of other English words that come from the prolific Latin stāre are (via its present participle stāns) circumstance [13], constant, distant, instant, stance, stanza, substance, etc, and (via the derivative sistere ‘stand’) assist, consist, desist [15], exist, insist [16], persist [16], and resist [14].
=> assist, circumstance, consist, constant, contrast, cost, desist, destitute, distant, estate, exist, insist, instant, institute, persist, prostitute, resist, restitution, stable, stance, stand, stanza, state, station, statistic, status, statute, stay, stead, stem, stoic, substance, substitute
circumstance (n.): early 13c., "conditions surrounding and accompanying an event," from Old French circonstance "circumstance, situation," also literally, "outskirts" (13c., Modern French circonstance), from Latin circumstantia "surrounding condition," neuter plural of circumstans (genitive circumstantis), present participle of circumstare "stand around, surround, encompass, occupy, take possession of" from circum "around" (see circum-) + stare "to stand" from PIE root *sta- "to stand" (see stet). The Latin word is a loan-translation of Greek peristasis.

Meaning "a person's surroundings, environment" is from mid-14c. Meaning "a detail" is from c. 1300; sense of "that which is non-essential" is from 1590s. Obsolete sense of "formality about an important event" (late 14c.) lingers in Shakespeare's phrase pomp and circumstance ("Othello" III, iii).
constant (adj.): late 14c., "steadfast, resolute," from Old French constant (14c.) or directly from Latin constantem (nominative constans) "standing firm, stable, steadfast, faithful," present participle of constare, from com- "together" (see com-) + stare "to stand," from PIE root *sta- "to stand" (see stet). Of actions and conditions from 1650s. Related: Constantly.
Constantinople: the proper name from 330 C.E. to 1930 C.E. of what is now Istanbul, from Greek Konstantinou polis "Constantine's city," named for Roman emperor Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus, whose name is derived from Latin constans (see constant (adj.)).
distance (n.): late 13c., "quarrel, estrangement, discord, strife," from Old French destance (13c.), from Latin distantia "a standing apart," from distantem (nominative distans) "standing apart, separate, distant," present participle of distare "stand apart," from dis- "apart, off" (see dis-) + stare "to stand," from PIE root *sta- "to stand, set down, make or be firm" (see stet).

Meaning "remoteness, space between things or places" is late 14c. The figurative sense of "aloofness" is the same as in stand-offish. Phrase go the distance (1930s) seems to be originally from the prize ring, where the word meant "scheduled length of a bout."
distant (adj.): late 14c., from Old French distant (14c.), from Latin distantem (nominative distans), present participle of distare "to stand apart, be remote" (see distance (n.)). Related: Distantly.
equidistant (adj.): 1560s, from French équidistant (14c.), from Late Latin aequidistantem (nominative aequidistans), from aequi- (see equal (adj.)) + distans (see distant). In reference to a type of map projection, from 1866. Related: Equidistance.
inconstance (n.): late 14c., from Old French inconstance (13c.), from Latin inconstantia, noun of quality from inconstans (see inconstant).
inconstant (adj.): c. 1400, "fickle, not steadfast," from Middle French inconstant (late 14c.), from Latin inconstantem (nominative inconstans) "changeable, fickle, capricious," from in- "not, opposite of, without" (see in- (1)) + constantem (see constant). Related: Inconstantly.
instance (n.): mid-14c., "urgency," from Old French instance "eagerness, anxiety, solicitation" (13c.), from Latin instantia "presence, effort intention; earnestness, urgency," literally "a standing near," from instans (see instant). In Scholastic logic, "a fact or example" (early 15c.), from Medieval Latin instantia, used to translate Greek enstasis. This led to use in phrase for instance "as an example" (1650s), and the noun phrase To give (someone) a for instance (1953, American English).
instant (n.): late 14c., "infinitely short space of time," from Old French instant (adj.) "assiduous, at hand," from Medieval Latin instantem (nominative instans), in classical Latin "present, pressing, urgent," literally "standing near," present participle of instare "to urge, to stand near, be present (to urge one's case)," from in- "in" (see in- (2)) + stare "to stand," from PIE root *sta- "to stand" (see stet). Elliptical use of the French adjective as a noun.
instant (adj.): mid-15c., "present, urgent," from Old French instant (14c.), from Latin instantem (nominative instans) "pressing, urgent," literally "standing near" (see instant (n.)). Meaning "now, present" is from 1540s, and led to the use of the word in dating of correspondence, in reference to the current month, often abbreviated inst. and persisting at least into the mid-19c. Thus 16th inst. means "sixteenth of the current month." Sense of "immediately" is from 1590s. Of foods, by 1912. Televised sports instant replay attested by 1965. Instant messaging attested by 1994.
notwithstanding (prep.): late 14c., notwiþstondynge, from not + present participle of the verb withstand. A loan-translation of Medieval Latin non obstante "being no hindrance," from ablative of obstans, present participle of obstare "stand opposite to" (see obstacle). As an adverb and as a conjunction from early 15c.
Protestant (n., adj.): 1539, from German or French protestant, from Latin protestantem (nominative protestans), present participle of protestari (see protest (n.)). Originally used of German princes and free cities who declared their dissent from ("protested") the decision of the Diet of Speyer (1529), which reversed the liberal terms allowed Lutherans in 1526.
When forced to make their choice between obedience to God and obedience to the Emperor, they were compelled to choose the former. [Thomas M. Lindsay, "A History of the Reformation," New York, 1910]
The word was taken up by the Lutherans in Germany (Swiss and French preferred Reformed). It became the general word for "adherents of the Reformation in Germany," then "member of any Western church outside the Roman communion;" a sense first attested in English in 1553.
In the 17c., 'protestant' was primarily opposed to 'papist,' and thus accepted by English Churchmen generally; in more recent times, being generally opposed to 'Roman Catholic,' or ... to 'Catholic,' ... it is viewed with disfavour by those who lay stress on the claim of the Anglican Church to be equally Catholic with the Roman. [OED]
Often contemptuous shortened form Prot is from 1725, in Irish English. Protestant (work) ethic (1926) is taken from Max Weber's work "Die protestantische Ethik und der 'Geist' des Kapitalismus" (1904). Protestant Reformation attested by 1680s.
stance (n.): 1530s, "standing place, station," probably from Middle French stance "resting place, harbor" (16c.), from Vulgar Latin *stantia "place, abode" (also source of Italian stanza "stopping place, station, stanza," Spanish stancia "a dwelling"), from Latin stans (genitive stantis), present participle of stare "to stand," from PIE root *sta- "to stand" (see stet). Sense of "position of the feet" (in golf, etc.) is first recorded 1897; figurative sense of "point of view" is recorded from 1956. The sense of the French word has since narrowed.
stanza (n.): "group of rhymed verse lines," 1580s, from Italian stanza "verse of a poem," originally "standing, stopping place," from Vulgar Latin *stantia "a stanza of verse," so called from the stop at the end of it, from Latin stantem (nominative stans), present participle of stare "to stand," from PIE root *sta- "to stand, set down, make or be firm" (see stet). Related: Stanzaic.
staunch (adj.): early 15c., "impervious to water," from Old French estanche "firm, watertight," fem. of estanc "tired, exhausted, wearied, vanquished; water-tight; withered, dried" (Modern French étanche), from Vulgar Latin *stanticare (source also of Spanish estanco "water-tight," Italian stanco "exhausted, weary"), probably from Latin stans (genitive stantis), present participle of stare "to stand," from PIE root *sta- "to stand" (see stet). Sense of "strong, substantial" first recorded mid-15c.; of persons, "standing firm and true to one's principles" from 1620s.
substance (n.): c. 1300, "essential nature, real or essential part," from Old French sustance, substance "goods, possessions; nature, composition" (12c.), from Latin substantia "being, essence, material," from substans, present participle of substare "stand firm, stand or be under, be present," from sub "up to, under" (see sub-) + stare "to stand," from PIE root *sta- "to stand" (see stet). Latin substantia translates Greek ousia "that which is one's own, one's substance or property; the being, essence, or nature of anything." Meaning "any kind of corporeal matter" is first attested mid-14c. Sense of "the matter of a study, discourse, etc." first recorded late 14c.