Tiers Etat

(te-arz a-tah'.) [Fr., the third estate.] (Fr. Hist.) This term was universally applied in France to the ma of the people under the old régime. Before the cities rose to wealth and influence, the nobility and clergy po e ed the property of almost the whole country, and the people were subject to the most degrading humiliations. But as trade and commerce began to render men independent, and they were able to shake off their feudal bonds, the T. E. gradually rose into importance; and at length the third estate, during the Revolution, may be said to have become the nation itself. [s. 896]