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three - 5 dictionary results

three

  [three] ,
Use three in a Sentence
–noun
1. a cardinal number, 2 plus 1.
2. a symbol for this number, as 3 or III.
3. a set of this many persons or things.
4. a playing card, die face, or half of a domino face with three pips.
–adjective
5. amounting to three in number.
—Idiom
6. three sheets in the wind. sheet 2 (def. 3).
Origin:
bef. 900; ME; OE thrēo, thrīo, fem. and neut. of thrī(e); c. D drie, G drei, ON thrīr, Goth threis, Gk treîs, L trēs three, ter thrice, Ir trí, OCS tri, Skt trī, tráyas
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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three   (thrē)   
n.  
  1. The cardinal number equal to 2 + 1.
  2. The third in a set or sequence.
  3. Something having three parts, units, or members.

[Middle English, from Old English thrī; see trei- in Indo-European roots.]
three adj. & pron.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Three

Three\, a. [OE. [thorn]re, [thorn]reo, [thorn]ri, AS. [thorn]r[=i], masc., [thorn]re['o], fem. and neut.; akin to OFries. thre, OS. thria, threa, D. drie, G. drei, OHG. dr[=i], Icel. [thorn]r[=i]r, Dan. & Sw. tre, Goth. [thorn]reis, Lith. trys, Ir., Gael. & W. tri, Russ. tri, L. tres, Gr. trei^s, Skr. tri. [root]301. Cf. 3d Drilling, Tern, a., Third, Thirteen, Thirty, Tierce, Trey, Tri-, Triad, Trinity, Tripod.] One more than two; two and one. "I offer thee three things." --2 Sam. xxiv. 12.

Three solemn aisles approach the shrine. --Keble.

Note: Three is often joined with other words, forming compounds signifying divided into, composed of, or containing, three parts, portions, organs, or the like; as, three-branched, three-capsuled, three-celled, three-cleft, three-edged, three-foot, three-footed, three-forked, three-grained, three-headed, three-legged, three-mouthed, three-nooked, three-petaled, three-pronged, three-ribbed, three-seeded, three-stringed, three-toed, and the like.

Three

Three\, n. 1. The number greater by a unit than two; three units or objects.

2. A symbol representing three units, as 3 or iii.

Rule of three. (Arith.) See under Rule, n.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : three
Spanish: tres,
German: die Drei,
Japanese: ３
More Translations »

three 
O.E. þreo, fem. and neut. (masc. þri, þrie), from P.Gmc. *thrijiz (cf. O.Fris. thre, M.Du., Du. drie, O.H.G. dri, Ger. drei, O.N. þrir, Dan. tre), from PIE *trejes (cf. Skt. trayas, Avestan thri, Gk. treis, L. tres, Lith. trys, O.C.S. trye, Ir., Welsh tri "three"). 3-D first attested 1952, abbreviation of three-dimensional (1878). Three-piece suit is recorded from 1909. Three cheers for ______ is recorded from 1751. Three-martini lunch is attested from 1972. Three-ring circus first recorded 1898. Three-sixty "complete turnaround" is from 1927, originally among aviators, in ref. to the number of degrees in a full circle. Three musketeers translates Fr. les trois mousquetaires, title of an 1844 novel by Alexandre Dumas père.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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