the three estates
- noun
:
los tres estamentos
- Photos (color): The three estates of the Soviet nuclear society were represented at the Dubna conference.
Examples
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Photos (color): The three estates of the Soviet nuclear society were represented at the Dubna conference.
Academic text (1996) -
The three estates of the Soviet nuclear empire assembled for their first reunion in May 1996.
Academic text (1996) -
The three estates of the Soviet nuclear empire assembled for their first reunion in May 1996.
Academic text (1996) -
They have no intention of sharing power with the Third Estate, the common people, and wish to see the King's absolute power restored.
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He also needed the acclamation of all three estates, something passed over at his hasty election in 1523.
Academic text (2000) -
In feudal times, society was viewed as being made up of three estates, a "trinity," functioning under the king's beneficence: the Lords Spiritual, the Lords Temporal, and the Peasants.
Academic text (1996) -
Consequently, political power in Sweden was shifting away from the noble council and exclusive meetings of the lords, herredage, toward a personalized regency supported by broader factions from all three estates.
Academic text (2000) -
In medieval Europe, society was organized into the three estates: the clergy, the nobility, and the commons, each with its own unique privileges.
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The three estates of the realm traditionally included the clergy, the nobility, and the common people, reflecting the social hierarchy of the time.
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Historically, France was divided into the three estates, which encompassed the clergy, the nobility, and the ordinary citizens, shaping the political landscape.
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'three' (a number) + 'estate' (a historical social class) yields 'three estates' meaning three principal social classes, and 'the' is just a definite article. This regular noun phrase pattern is cross-linguistically common and follows standard English composition, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words will readily infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
The three estates comes from an old way of dividing society into three groups called estates: the church, the nobles, and the common people. Because each 'estate' had its own role and often its own vote in meetings, the phrase now means 'the three main social classes'.