tri-
Three; having three.
[Latin tres, Greek treis, three.]
Some examples are triangle, literally ‘three-cornered’ (Latin angulus, corner); triathlon, an athletic contest consisting of three different events; tripod (Latin pous, pod-, foot), a three-legged stand for supporting a camera or other apparatus; trilingual, able to speak three languages (Latin lingua, tongue); tripartite (Latin partitus, divided), consisting of three parts; the fossil animal called a trilobite (Greek lobos, lobe) had a segmented hindpart divided longitudinally into three lobes; triplicate (Latin triplex, triplic-, threefold), refers to something existing in three copies or examples. The form is widely used in chemistry to indicate the presence of three atoms or groups of a given type: trichloroacetic acid, triiodothyronine, trisaccharide. See also trito-.
Visit Michael Quinion’s World Wide Words site for 2000+ articles on English!
Copyright © Michael Quinion 2008–. All rights reserved. Page last updated 23 September 2008.
Your comments and suggestions on the site are very welcome.