Cannot find any info on MagicFieldName 'status'

I just discovered that, according to this url: http://wiki.rubyonrails.org/rails/pages/MagicFieldNames

‘status’ is a Magic Field Name. But, it has no info on what it is or does. Can anyone tell me what the ‘Magic’ behaviour or property is? I have status fields in my applications. Am I subjecting myself to some unexpected behaviours?