third estate

American  

noun

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

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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

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Etymology

Origin of third estate

First recorded in 1595–1605

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

third estate

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

Some of the more liberal of the nobles—Lafayette, for example—and a large minority of the clergy wished to meet with the deputies of the third estate.

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

Having kept his second estate, and filled the measure of his responsibilities in the flesh, he passes the veil of death, and enters a third estate, or probationary sphere.

From Key to the Science of Theology by Parley P. Pratt

The third estate, formerly hardly recognized as having an existence, is becoming the controlling power in most of those ancient communities.

From Cotton is King, and Pro-Slavery Arguments Comprising the Writings of Hammond, Harper, Christy, Stringfellow, Hodge, Bledsoe, and Cartrwright on This Important Subject by E. N. Elliott