fourth estate（n.）
“新闻界”（the press）在1824年，尤其是从1831年开始在英国英语中使用。至于另外三个词，见 estate。在此之前，该术语曾被用于各种没有留下痕迹的意义，包括“暴民”（1752年），“律师”（1825年）。将其扩展到新闻界可能是前者的产物。
Hence, through the light of letters and the liberty of the press, public opinion has risen to the rank of a fourth estate in our constitution; in times of quiet and order, silent and still, but in the collisions of the different branches of our government, deciding as an umpire with unbounded authority. ["Memoir of James Currie, M.D.," 1831]
因此，通过文字的启示和新闻自由， public opinion 在我们的宪法中上升为第四权力； 在平静和秩序的时期，沉默而静止，但在政府不同分支之间的冲突中，作为裁判员拥有无限的权威。【《詹姆斯·柯瑞医生回忆录》，1831年】
[Newspapers] began to assume some degree of political importance, during the civil wars of the seventeenth century, in England; but it is not until within the last fifty years that they have become, — as they are now justly styled, — a Fourth Estate, exercising a more powerful influence on the public affairs of the countries in which they are permitted to circulate freely, than the other three put together. [Alexander H. Everett, "Address to the Phi Beta Kappa Society of Bowdoin College," 1834]
在英国17世纪的内战期间，报纸开始具有一定的政治重要性； 但直到最近50年，它们才成为——正如它们现在被公正地称呼的那样——一个 Fourth Estate，对于它们被允许自由传播的国家的公共事务产生比其他三个权力加起来更强大的影响。【亚历山大·H·埃弗雷特，《博德因学院菲贝塔卡帕学会演讲》，1834年】
该词起源时间：1824年