next after the second; being the ordinal number for three.
2.
being one of three equal parts.
3.
Automotive. of, pertaining to, or operating at the gear transmission ratio at which the drive shaft speed is greater than that of second gear for a given engine crankshaft speed, but not as great as that of fourth gear, if such exists: third gear.
4.
rated, graded, or ranked one level below the second: He's third engineer on the ship.
–noun
5.
a third part, esp. of one (1/3).
6.
the third member of a series.
7.
Automotive. third gear: Don't try to start a car when it's in third.
8.
a person or thing next after second in rank, precedence, order: The writer of the best essay will receive a gold medal, the second a silver, and the third a bronze.
9.
Usually, thirds.Law.
a.
the third part of the personal property of a deceased husband, which in certain circumstances goes absolutely to the widow.
b.
a widow's dower.
10.
Music.
a.
a tone on the third degree from a given tone (counted as the first).
Usually, thirds.Commerce. a product or goods below second quality. Compare first(def. 16), second1(def. 23).
–adverb
13.
in the third place; thirdly.
[Origin: bef. 900; ME thirde, OE (north) thirda, var. of thridda; c. D derde, G dritte, ON thrithi, Goth thridja, Gk trítos, L tertius, Skt tṛtīya.See three]
The ordinal number matching the number three in a series.
One of three equal parts.
Music
An interval of three degrees in a diatonic scale.
A tone separated by three degrees from a given tone, especially the third tone of a scale.
The transmission gear or gear ratio used to produce forward speeds next higher to those of second in a motor vehicle.
Baseball Third base.
thirds Merchandise whose quality is below the standard set for seconds.
[Middle English thridde, therdde, third, from Old English thridda; see trei- in Indo-European roots.]
third adv. & adj.
Word History: Every native speaker knows that the cardinal three and the ordinal third are closely related, but many may wonder why the r comes before the vowel in the former and after in the latter. What we have here is metathesis, the switching of the order of two sounds. This is a common occurrence in languages, and especially so in English with the consonant r. In Old English, three was thrīe, and third was thridda. Thridda would have given us thrid in Modern English except for the metathesis of r and i. This metathesis began in Old English times in Northumbria: thridda appears as thirdda in Northumbrian manuscripts. The metathesis spread south during Middle English times and also affected many other words, including bird (originally bridd in Old English and in Chaucer's Middle English), and nostril, literally "nose hole" (from Old English thyrl). Metathesis even produced the curious form throp from thorp, "village," which survives in the proper name Winthrop.
O.E. metathesis of þridda, from P.Gmc. *thridjas (cf. O.Fris. thredda, O.S. thriddio, M.L.G. drudde, Du. derde, O.H.G. dritto, Ger. dritte, O.N. þriðe, Goth. þridja), from PIE *tritjos (cf. Skt. trtiyas, Avestan thritya, Gk. tritos, L. tertius, O.C.S. tretiji, Lith. trecias, O.Ir. triss). Related to O.E. þreo (see three). Metathesis of thrid into third is attested from c.950 in Northumbria, but thrid was prevalent up to 16c. The noun meaning "third part of anything" is recorded from 1382. Third rail in electric railway sense is recorded from 1890. Third World War as a possibility first recorded 1947. Third-rate "of poor quality" is from 1814, ult. from classification of ships (1649); third class in railway travel is from 1839. Third Reich (1930) is a partial transl. of Ger. drittes Reich (1923). Third party in law, insurance, etc., is from 1818.
coming next after the second and just before the fourth in position
adverb
1.
in the third place; "third we must consider unemployment"
noun
1.
one of three equal parts of a divisible whole; "it contains approximately a third of the minimum daily requirement" [syn: one-third]
2.
the fielding position of the player on a baseball team who is stationed near the third of the bases in the infield (counting counterclockwise from home plate); "he is playing third" [syn: third base]
3.
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"
4.
the musical interval between one note and another three notes away from it; "a simple harmony written in major thirds"
5.
the third from the lowest forward ratio gear in the gear box of a motor vehicle; "you shouldn't try to start in third gear" [syn: third gear]
6.
the base that must be touched third by a base runner in baseball; "he was cut down on a close play at third" [syn: third base]
Third Lake, IL (village, FIPS 75081) Location: 42.36770 N, 88.00836 W Population (1990): 1248 (420 housing units) Area: 1.3 sq km (land), 0.7 sq km (water)
Rid"ing\ (r[imac]d"[i^]ng), n. [For thriding, Icel. [thorn]ri[eth]jungr the third part, fr. [thorn]ri[eth]i third, akin to E. third. See Third.] One of the three jurisdictions into which the county of York, in England, is divided; -- formerly under the government of a reeve. They are called the North, the East, and the West, Riding. --Blackstone.
Ter"ti*a*ry\, n.; pl. Tertiaries. 1. (R. C. Ch.) 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.) The Tertiary era, period, or formation. 3. (Zo["o]l.) One of the quill feathers which are borne upon the basal joint of the wing of a bird. See Illust. of Bird.
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