There are currently 5 states:

Published - the asset is available for viewing, editing, etc

Trash - the asset is in the trash

Trash-limbo - the asset is in the trash because one of it's ancestors is in the trash, therefore if it's ancestor is restored or purged it will go with its ancestor

Clipboard - the asset is in the clipboard

Clipboard-limbo - the asset is in the clipboard because one of it's ancestors is in the clipboard, therefore if it's ancestor is restored, pasted, or  moved to trash it will go with its ancestor