THIRD

third, rd, tertiary

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

third, thirdly

(adverb) in the third place; “third we must consider unemployment”

third

(noun) the musical interval between one note and another three notes away from it; “a simple harmony written in major thirds”

third, one-third, tierce

(noun) one of three equal parts of a divisible whole; “it contains approximately a third of the minimum daily requirement”

third

(noun) following the second position in an ordering or series; “a distant third”; “he answered the first question willingly, the second reluctantly, and the third with resentment”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Adjective

third (not comparable)

The ordinal form of the cardinal number three; Coming after the second.

Synonyms

• 3rd, 3d, IIIrd, III

Noun

third (countable and uncountable, plural thirds)

The person or thing in the third position.

One of three equal parts of a whole.

(uncountable) The third gear of a gearbox.

(music) An interval consisting of the first and third notes in a scale.

(baseball) third base

(golf) A handicap of one stroke every third hole.

A third-class degree, awarded to the lowest achievers in an honours degree programme

(archaic) One sixtieth of a second, i.e, the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system. Also formerly known as a tierce.

Synonyms

• (gear): third gear

• (fractions): â…“

Verb

third (third-person singular simple present thirds, present participle thirding, simple past and past participle thirded)

(informal) To agree with a proposition or statement after it has already been seconded.

To divide into three equal parts.

Anagrams

• drith, thrid

Source: Wiktionary


Third, a. Etym: [OE. thirde, AS. , fr. , , three; akin to D. derde third, G. dritte, Icel. , Goth. , L. tertius, Gr. t. See Three, and cf. Riding a jurisdiction, Tierce.]

1. Next after the second; coming after two others; -- the ordinal of three; as, the thirdhour in the day. "The third night." Chaucer.

2. Constituting or being one of three equal parts into which anything is divided; as, the third part of a day. Third estate. (a) In England, the commons, or the commonalty, who are represented in Parliament by the House of Commons. (b) In France, the tiers Ă©tat. See Tiers Ă©tat. Third order (R. C. Ch.), an order attached to a monastic order, and comprising men and women devoted to a rule of pious living, called the third rule, by a simple vow if they remain seculars, and by more solemn vows if they become regulars. See Tertiary, n., 1.

– Third person (Gram.), the person spoken of. See Person, n., 7.

– Third sound. (Mus.) See Third, n., 3.

Third, n.

1. The quotient of a unit divided by three; one of three equal parts into which anything is divided.

2. The sixtieth part of a second of time.

3. (Mus.)

Definition: The third tone of the scale; the mediant.

4. pl. (Law)

Definition: The third part of the estate of a deseased husband, which, by some local laws, the widow is entitled to enjoy during her life. Major third (Mus.), an interval of two tones.

– Minor third (Mus.), an interval of a tone and a half.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

23 November 2024

THEORETICAL

(adjective) concerned primarily with theories or hypotheses rather than practical considerations; “theoretical science”


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Coffee Trivia

In the 16th century, Turkish women could divorce their husbands if the man failed to keep his family’s pot filled with coffee.

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