first estate

American  

noun

1. the first of the three estates: the clergy in France; the Lords Spiritual in England.

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first estate British  

noun

1. the first of the three estates of the realm, such as the Lords Spiritual in England or the clergy in France until the revolution

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Etymology

Origin of first estate

First recorded in 1930–35

Example Sentences

When I attended my first estate sale in November at a Beverly Hills home, a stunning vintage Teac A-7010 tape recorder caught my attention.

From Los Angeles Times • May 1, 2023

Anson MacAuslan was among the first estate managers to secure funding from Peatland Action — a project funded by the Scottish government to restore peatlands.

From Nature • Feb. 11, 2020

Everywhere, man had at the beginning been innocent and happy, and had lapsed, by temptation and his own weakness, from his first estate.

From Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry by Pike, Albert

As their cousins the morning glories are to this day, the dodders in their first estate were true climbers.

From Little Masterpieces of Science: The Naturalist as Interpreter and Seer by Iles, George

He might possibly have merely, when renouncing his toil over the up-grade of life, slipped back to his first estate, and thus have experienced in one sense no change at all.

From Jerome, A Poor Man A Novel by Freeman, Mary Eleanor Wilkins