Lifecycle State. The explicit state of a relationship, approval, delegation, blocker, decision, workflow, artifact, or operational record as it moves through time: created, pending, approved, blocked, active, expired, revoked, executed, failed, superseded, or ended.
Lifecycle state makes time and authority visible. A fact that can expire, be revoked, block work, or change permission is not complete unless the system records where it is in its lifecycle and which transition made it so. A revocation rule names one of the transitions that can move authority from usable to refused.