1. The lords spiritual, the lords temporal, and the commons of Great Britain. — Also termed the three estates.
2. In feudal Europe, the clergy, nobles, and commons. • Because the lords spiritual had no separate assembly or negative in their political capacity, some authorities reduce the estates in Great Britain to two, the lords and commons. In England (until about the 14th century), the three estates of the realm were the clergy, barons, and knights. In legal practice, the lords spiritual and lords temporal are usu. collectively designated simply as lords.
