Meaning & use
Estates-General
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Meaning
proper nounproper
In France before 1789, a national assembly whose three groups, the clergy, the nobility and the common people, were called together by the king to advise him.
Grammar: Used with the and takes either a singular or plural verb: the Estates-General was summoned in 1789.
Patterns
- the Estates-General of 1789
- summon the Estates-General
King Louis XVI called the Estates-General in 1789 to deal with the financial crisis.
The Estates-General had not met for 175 years before the Revolution began.
Disputes over voting in the Estates-General led the commoners to form their own assembly.
Common combinations
- summon the Estates-General
- The king was forced to summon the Estates-General.
- the Estates-General of 1789
- The Estates-General of 1789 opened at Versailles.
- Third Estate
- The Third Estate broke away from the Estates-General.
- meeting of the Estates-General
- A meeting of the Estates-General had been rare.
- deputies to the Estates-General
- Deputies to the Estates-General brought lists of complaints.
Synonyms and how they differ
- assembly
- Assembly is the general word for any gathering of lawmakers, while Estates-General names one specific French body.
- parliament
- A parliament meets regularly and makes laws, whereas the French Estates-General met only when the king called it.
- legislature
- Legislature is a general term for a lawmaking body, but the Estates-General was an advisory body without lawmaking power.
Word family
- estate noun
- one of the three social orders in old France
- Third Estate noun
- the commoners in the pre-revolutionary assembly
- National Assembly proper noun
- the body the Third Estate declared in 1789
Commonly confused: Estates-General or National Assembly?
Estates-General vs National Assembly
The National Assembly was formed in June 1789 when the Third Estate left the Estates-General; the two are different bodies.
Practice
Which three groups made up the French Estates-General?
Choose one answer.
The Estates-General brought together the clergy, the nobility and the common people. The other options are plausible-sounding groups but not the three estates.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “Estates-General”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.