the three estates

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

the three estates - a major social class or order of persons regarded collectively as part of the body politic of the country (especially in the United Kingdom) and formerly possessing distinct political rights estate of the realm, estate social class, socio-economic class, stratum, class - people having the same social, economic, or educational status; "the working class"; "an emerging professional class" first estate, Lords Spiritual - the clergy in France and the heads of the church in Britain Lords Temporal, second estate - the nobility in France and the peerage in Britain third estate, Commons - the common people fourth estate - the press, including journalists, newspaper writers, photographers body politic, country, nation, res publica, commonwealth, state, land - a politically organized body of people under a single government; "the state has elected a new president"; "African nations"; "students who had come to the nation's capitol"; "the country's largest manufacturer"; "an industrialized land" Britain, Great Britain, U.K., UK, United Kingdom, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland - a monarchy in northwestern Europe occupying most of the British Isles; divided into England and Scotland and Wales and Northern Ireland; `Great Britain' is often used loosely to refer to the United Kingdom France, French Republic - a republic in western Europe; the largest country wholly in Europe