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

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 insisted on the vote by head, the graduated abolition of privilege in all governmental affairs, a written constitution and union.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 7 "Fox, George" to "France" by Various

In spite of the king's commands the representatives of the third estate refused to organize themselves in the old way as a separate order.

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

Consequently, when the States-General were convoked, Lecamus was unanimously elected to represent the third estate by the influence of the priests, which was at that time enormous in Paris.

From The Works of Honor? de Balzac About Catherine de' Medici, Seraphita and Other Stories by Balzac, Honor? de