TERTIARY

third, rd, tertiary

(adjective) coming next after the second and just before the fourth in position

Tertiary, Tertiary period

(noun) from 63 million to 2 million years ago

Source: WordNet® 3.1

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Etymology

Adjective

tertiary (not comparable)

Of third rank or order; subsequent.

(chemistry) Possessing some quality in the third degree; especially having been subjected to the substitution of three atoms or radicals.

(ornithology) Of quills: growing on the innermost joint of a bird's wing; tertial.

Coordinate terms

• primary (1)

• secondary (2)

• quaternary (4)

• quinary (5)

• senary (6)

• septenary (7)

• octonary (8)

• nonary (9)

• denary (10)

• duodenary (12)

• vigenary (20)

Noun

tertiary (plural tertiaries)

Any item considered to be of third order.

A tertiary colour.

(geology) Something from the Tertiary Period (the former term for the geologic period from 65 million to 2.58 million years ago).

(ornithology) A tertiary feather; a tertial.

(Roman Catholicism) A member of a Roman Catholic third order; a layperson who participates in activities similar to those engaged in by men and women who take religious vows (respectively the first and second orders), and who may wear some elements of an order's habit such as a scapular.

Etymology

Adjective

Tertiary (not comparable)

(geology) Of or pertaining to the first part of the Cenozoic era when modern flora and mammals appeared.

Proper noun

Tertiary

(geology) The first part of the Cenozoic era when modern flora and mammals appeared.

Source: Wiktionary

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Ter"ti*a*ry, a. Etym: [L. tertiarius containing a third part, fr. tertius third: cf. F. tertiaire. See Tierce.]

1. Being of the third formation, order, or rank; third; as, a tertiary use of a word. Trench.

2. (Chem.)

Definition: Possessing some quality in the third degree; having been subjected to the substitution of three atoms or radicals; as, a tertiary alcohol, amine, or salt. Cf. Primary, and Secondary. (CH3)3C.OH.

3. (Geol.)

Definition: Later than, or subsequent to, the Secondary.

4. (Zoöl.)

Definition: Growing on the innermost joint of a bird's wing; tertial; -- said of quills. Tertiary age. (Geol.) See under Age, 8.

– Tertiary color, a color produced by the mixture of two secondaries. "The so-called tertiary colors are citrine, russet, and olive." Fairholt.

– Tertiary period. (Geol.) (a) The first period of the age of mammals, or of the Cenozoic era. (b) The rock formation of that period; -- called also Tertiary formation. See the Chart of Geology.

– Tertiary syphilis (Med.), the third and last stage of syphilis, in which it invades the bones and internal organs.

Ter"ti*a*ry, n.; pl. Tertiaries (.

1. (R. C. Ch.)

Definition: A member of the Third Order in any monastic system; as, the Franciscan tertiaries; the Dominican tertiaries; the Carmelite tertiaries. See Third Order, under Third. Addis & Arnold.

2. (Geol.)

Definition: The Tertiary era, period, or formation.

3. (Zoöl.)

Definition: One of the quill feathers which are borne upon the basal joint of the wing of a bird. See Illust. of Bird.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

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