The Collaborative International Dictionary
Third \Third\ (th[~e]rd), a. [OE. thirde, AS. [thorn]ridda, fr. [thorn]r[=i], [thorn]re['o], three; akin to D. derde third, G. dritte, Icel. [thorn]ri[eth]i, Goth. [thorn]ridja, L. tertius, Gr. tri`tos, Skr. t[.r]t[=i]ya. See Three, and cf. Riding a jurisdiction, Tierce.]
Next after the second; coming after two others; -- the ordinal of three; as, the third hour in the day. ``The third night.''
--Chaucer.-
Constituting or being one of three equal parts into which anything is divided; as, the third part of a day. Third estate.
In England, the commons, or the commonalty, who are represented in Parliament by the House of Commons.
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In France, the tiers ['e]tat. See Tiers ['e]tat.
Third order (R. C. Ch.), an order attached to a monastic order, and comprising men and women devoted to a rule of pious living, called the third rule, by a simple vow if they remain seculars, and by more solemn vows if they become regulars. See Tertiary, n., 1.
Third person (Gram.), the person spoken of. See Person, n., 7.
Third sound. (Mus.) See Third, n.,
Wiktionary
alt. 1 (context originally English) The caste of commoners in France prior to 1789. 2 (context by extension English) The commoners, collectively, in any society. n. 1 (context originally English) The caste of commoners in France prior to 1789. 2 (context by extension English) The commoners, collectively, in any society.
WordNet
n. the third estate of the realm; the commons (especially in Britain or France) viewed as forming a political order having representation in a parliament
Usage examples of "third estate".
On a third estate the priest, bearing a cross, came to meet him surrounded by children whom, by the count's generosity, he was instructing in reading, writing, and religion.
That the demands he had voiced in Nantes for the Third Estate had been granted by M.
But now the century began its headlong race toward revolutionary madness, following the ambitions of the Third Estate.
It appears to me, that as long as the people of a country are content to support the younger sons of the nobility, it is well that the aristocracy should be held up as a third estate, and a link between the sovereign and the people.
On a third estate he was met by a priest carrying a cross and surrounded by children to whom, through the count's liberality, he was teaching reading and religion.
Disputes immediately broke out between the three estates, due to the resolve of the Third Estate, the Commons, to control the Assembly.
Like everywhere else on Horizon Delta, the third estate was hooked on continuous free entertainment Bread and circuses.
Your third estate is tasteless, colourless, odourless, and shapeless.