first estate

American  

noun

1. the first of the three estates: the clergy in France; the Lords Spiritual in England.

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first estate British  

noun

1. the first of the three estates of the realm, such as the Lords Spiritual in England or the clergy in France until the revolution

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Etymology

Origin of first estate

First recorded in 1930–35

Example Sentences

When I attended my first estate sale in November at a Beverly Hills home, a stunning vintage Teac A-7010 tape recorder caught my attention.

From Los Angeles Times • May 1, 2023

Anson MacAuslan was among the first estate managers to secure funding from Peatland Action — a project funded by the Scottish government to restore peatlands.

From Nature • Feb. 11, 2020

If thy owner had found thee, and not I, he would have taken thee up, and have set thee in thy first estate; but I have found thee for no purpose.

From Aesop's Fables A New Revised Version From Original Sources by Weir, Harrison

Man's first estate is the spirit life; his second estate, the mortal life.

From Elias An Epic of the Ages by Whitney, Orson F.

It is the theater alone, as in its first estate a probable work of the first Hierôn, which at all connects itself with our present time.

From Seeing Europe with Famous Authors, Volume 8 Italy and Greece, Part Two by Halsey, Francis W. (Francis Whiting)