third estate n the third order or class in a country or society divided into estates, esp. for representation in a parliament; the commons, townsmen, or middle class English Collins Dictionary - English Definition & Thesaurus
DEFINITION of 'C-Suite'. A widely-used slang term used to collectively refer to a corporation's most important senior executives. C-Suite gets its name because top senior executives' titles tend to start with the letter C, for chief, as in chief executive officer, chief operating officer and chief information officer.
Many refer to C corporations simply as corporations. A C corporation pays taxes under Chapter C of the IRS tax code, which is where the name comes from. That means the corporation itself is a legal entity that is liable for its own debts and pays its own taxes. The owners of a C corporation are called shareholders and remain protected from liability for company actions.