fourth estate

noun

A hypothetical fourth class of civic subjects, or fourth body (in Britain, after the Crown, and the two Houses of Parliament) which governed legislation.

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Meanings

noun
  1. obsoleteA hypothetical fourth class of civic subjects, or fourth body (in Britain, after the Crown, and the two Houses of Parliament) which governed legislation.
    1 more example

    What is more barbarous than to see a nation […] where justice is lawfully denied him, that hath not wherewithall to pay for it; and that this merchandize hath so great credit, that in a politicall government there should be set up a fourth estate [tr. quatriesme estat] of Lawyers, breathsellers and pettifoggers […]

    1603, John Florio, translating Michel de Montaigne, Folio Society 2006, vol. 1 p. 104
  2. idiomaticJournalism or journalists considered as a group; the press.

    “Of what profession is Mr. Archer?” “Of the Corporation of the Goosequill—of the Press, my boy,” said Warrington; “of the fourth estate.”

    1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 31, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLC
    1 more example

    The fourth estate is a term to describe the power that journalists and news media have to keep the powers of government in check by informing the citizens. The way citizens have received news and information has always evolved, but throughout that whole time, having an informed audience was seen as a necessity to a functioning democracy. The newspaper itself has been dying for a while, even before social media, all thanks to 24-hour news.

    2020, AlternateHistoryHub, 16:26 from the start, in The 2010s: A Reflection Back On A Wacky Decade, spoken by Cody Franklin

Origin

The three (in England) estates were originally the three classes of people who could participate in government, either directly or by electing representatives – originally the clergy, barons/knights, and the commons (though they changed over time). Later the "three estates" were misunderstood as being the three governmental powers necessary for legislation: the Crown, the House of Lords, and the House of Commons; from there, the idea of a "fourth estate" was often used in satirical or jocular expressions, before developing a fixed association with the Press. In the modern sense often attributed to Edmund Burke (1787), popularized by essayist William Hazlitt in the 19th century.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian четвърта власт
  • четвърта власт (četvărta vlast)press
Chinese Mandarin 第四权
  • 第四权 (dìsìquán)press
Finnish neljäs valtiomahti
  • neljäs valtiomahtipress
French quatrième pouvoir
  • quatrième pouvoirpress
German vierte Gewalt
  • vierte Gewaltpress
Hebrew הרשות הרביעית, העיתונות
  • הרשות הרביעיתpress
  • העיתונותpress
Indonesian hak kuasa keempat
  • hak kuasa keempatpress
Norwegian den fjerde statsmakt
  • den fjerde statsmaktpress
Persian رکن چهارم مشروطیت
  • رکن چهارم مشروطیتpress
Polish czwarta władza
  • czwarta władzapress
Russian четвёртая власть
  • четвёртая власть (četvjórtaja vlastʹ)press
Spanish cuarto poder
  • cuarto poderpress
Swedish tredje statsmakten
  • tredje statsmaktenpress
Cite this entry
APA

fourth estate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fourth%20estate

MLA

“fourth estate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fourth%20estate. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “fourth estate,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fourth%20estate.

Source: fourth estate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.