the third estate of the realm; the commons (especially in Britain or France) viewed as forming a political order having representation in a parliament
The third of the traditional social classes; the common people. French Tiers État In French history, one of the three orders (with the nobility and the clergy) of the Estates-General before the French Revolution. The unprivileged order, it represented the great majority of the people. Its transformation with the Tennis Court Oath into a National Assembly in 1789 marked the beginning of the Revolution