third estate

American  

noun

1. the third of the three estates or political orders: the commons in France or England.

---

third estate British  

noun

1. the third order or class in a country or society divided into estates, esp for representation in a parliament; the commons, townsmen, or middle class

---

Etymology

Origin of third estate

First recorded in 1595–1605

Example Sentences

And now the fencing has come to the Supreme Court, to the third estate.

From Washington Post • May 10, 2022

The term had a special resonance with his Francophone audience because it recalled the third estate, “tiers-état,” of the French Revolution.

From Time • Aug. 26, 2015

The "third estate" was aroused and the States-General was summoned.

From Great Men and Famous Women. Vol. 4 A series of pen and pencil sketches of the lives of more than 200 of the most prominent personages in History by Horne, Charles F. (Charles Francis)

However this may have been, the good effect of the exercise of these rights, imperfect as they were, by the third estate, must be highly estimated.

From History of The Reign of Philip The Second King of Spain Volume The Third and Biographical & Critical Miscellanies by Prescott, William Hickling

A great part of the third estate lived in the country and tilled the soil.

From An Introduction to the History of Western Europe by Robinson, James Harvey