Estate

es-tāt′, n. condition or rank: position: property, esp. landed property: fortune: an order or cla of men in the body-politic: ( pl. ) dominions: po e ions.— v.t. to give an estate to: ( arch. ) to bestow upon.— n. Estates′man , statesman.— Man's estate , the state of manhood; The estates of the realm are three—Lords Spiritual, Lords Temporal, and Commons; but often misused for the legislature—king, lords, and commons.—The ancient parliament of Scotland consisted of the king and the Three Estates —viz.: (1) archbishops, bishops, abbots, and mitred priors; (2) the barons and the commi ioners of shires and stewartries; (3) the commi ioners from the royal burghs;—in France, the nobles, clergy, and Third Estate ( tiers état ) remained separate down to 1789; The fourth estate , often used humorously for the pre . [O. Fr. est at (Fr. état )—L. status , a state.]