A 'status' refers to a specific side-effect applied to a kind that hiders its performance during battle. The current list of known statuses are as follows:
Confusion: Causes the affected kin to sometimes attack itself, rather than its opponent
Paralysis: Prevents the kin from moving for several turns
Sleep: Same effect as Paralysis
Wither: Forces the kin to expend more MP than normal when attacking
Poison: Slowly eats away the affected kin's health
Unless the player uses a Kindred Refresh potion to cure the kin, the kin affected with a status will return to normal after the battle. The only exception to this is if a kin is affected with Poison, which continues to stay applied to the kin even to further battles, which then the player would use an Antidote potion to rid the kin of Poison.