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three

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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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Word Origin & History

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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