trei-

Three.

Derivatives include three, trio, testicle, detest, and trinity.

I. Nominative plural form *treyes.

1.

a. three, thrice; thirteen, thirty, from Old English thrīe, thrēo, thrī, three, with its derivatives thrīga, thrīwa, thrice, thrītig, thirty, and thrēotīne, thirteen (-tīne, ten; see dekm̥);

b. trillium, from Old Swedish thrīr, three. Both a and b from Germanic *thrijiz.

2. trey; trammel, trecento, trephine, triumvir, trocar, from Latin trēs, three.

3. triskaidekaphobia, from Greek treis, tris, three.

II. Zero-grade form *tri-.

1. Suffixed form *tri-tyo-.

a.

(i) third, from Old English thrid(d)a, thirdda, third;

(ii) riding², from Old Norse thridhi, third. Both (i) and (ii) from Germanic *thridjaz, third;

b. tercel, tercet, tertian, tertiary, tierce; sesterce, from Latin tertius, third.

2. Combining form *tri-.

a. tri-, tribe, trio, triple, from Latin tri-, three;

b. tri-; triclinium, tricrotic, tridactyl, triglyph, tritone, from Greek tri-, three;

c. Trimurti, from Sanskrit tri-, three.

3. triad, from Greek trias, the number three.

4. trichotomy, from Greek trikha, in three parts.

5. trierarch, from Greek compound triērēs, galley with three banks of oars, trireme (-ērēs, oar; see erə-).

6. Suffixed form *tri-to-. tritium, from Greek tritos, third.

7. Compound form *tri-pl-, “threefold” (*-pl- < combining form *-plo-, -fold; see pel-²). triploblastic, from Greek triploos, triple.

8. Compound form *tri-plek-, “threefold” (*-plek-, -fold; see plek-). triplex, from Latin triplex, triple.

9. Compound form *tri-st-i-, “third person standing by” (-st-, standing; see stā-). testament, testimony, testicle, testis; attest, contest, detest, obtest, protest, testify, from Latin testis, a witness.

10. sitar, teapoy, from Persian si, three.

III. Extended zero-grade form *tris, “thrice.”

1. tern²; terpolymer, from Latin ter, thrice.

2. trisoctahedron, Hermes Trismegistus, from Greek tris, thrice.

3. Suffixed form *tris-no-. trine, trinity, from Latin trīnī, three each.

IV. Suffixed o-grade form *troy-o-. troika, from Russian troje, group of three.

 

[Pokorny trei- 1090.]

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