TRIPOS

tripos

(noun) final honors degree examinations at Cambridge University

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Noun

tripos (plural triposes)

(obsolete) A three-legged structure; a tripod.

(, Cambridge University) Any of the final examinations for a BA honours degree.

(, Cambridge University) The list of successful candidates in such an examination.

Anagrams

• prosit, ripost

Source: Wiktionary


Tri"pos, n.; pl. Triposes. Etym: [Gr. Tripod.]

1. A tripod. [Obs.] Dryden.

2. A university examination of questionists, for honors; also, a tripos paper; one who prepares a tripos paper. [Cambridge University, Eng.] Classical tripos examination, the final university examination for classical honors, optional to all who have taken the mathematical honors. C. A. Bristed.

– Tripos paper, a printed list of the successful candidates for mathematical honors, accompanied by a piece in Latin verse. There are two of these, designed to commemorate the two tripos days. The first contains the names of the wranglers and senior optimes, and the second the names of the junior optimes. The word tripos is supposed to refer to the three-legged stool formerly used at the examinations for these honors, though some derive it from the three brackets formerly printed on the back of the paper. C. A. Bristed.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

3 April 2025

WHOLE

(noun) an assemblage of parts that is regarded as a single entity; “how big is that part compared to the whole?”; “the team is a unit”


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