third
pronunciation
How to pronounce third in British English:
UK [θɜːd]
How to pronounce third in American English:
US [θɜːrd]
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- Noun:
- one of three equal parts of a divisible whole
- the fielding position of the player on a baseball team who is stationed near 3rd base
- following the second position in an ordering or series
- the musical interval between one note and another three notes away from it
- the third from the lowest forward ratio gear in the gear box of a motor vehicle
- the base that must be touched third by a base runner in baseball
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- Adjective:
- coming next after the second and just before the fourth in position
- being one of three equal parts
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- Adverb:
- in the third place
Word Origin
- third
- third: [OE] Third goes back ultimately to an Indo- European *tritjos, an ordinal derivative of the base that produced English three. Amongst its other descendants were Greek trítos, Latin tertius (source of English tertiary [16]), Russian tretij, Polish trzeci, Latvian trešais, and Welsh tryddydd. In prehistoric Germanic it became *thrithjaz, which has evolved into German dritte, Dutch derde, Swedish and Danish tredje, and English third.=> three
- third (adj.)
- late Old English metathesis of þridda, from Proto-Germanic *thridja- (cognates: Old Frisian thredda, Old Saxon thriddio, Middle Low German drudde, Dutch derde, Old High German dritto, German dritte, Old Norse þriðe, Danish tredie, Swedish tredje, Gothic þridja), from PIE *tri-tyo- (cognates: Sanskrit trtiyas, Avestan thritya, Greek tritos, Latin tertius (source of Italian terzo, Spanish tercio, French tiers), Old Church Slavonic tretiji, Lithuanian trecias, Old Irish triss, Welsh tryde), suffixed form of root *trei- (see three). Metathesis of thrid into third is attested from c.950 in Northumbrian, but overall thrid was prevalent up to 16c. The noun meaning "third part of anything" is recorded from late 14c. 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, ultimately from classification of ships (1640s); third class in railway travel is from 1839. Third Reich (1930) is a partial translation of German drittes Reich (1923). Third party in law, insurance, etc., is from 1818.
Example
- 1. The third category includes hedge funds .
- 2. China accounts for a third of world demand .
- 3. Just over a third of guineans can read and write .
- 4. Third , the negotiations could go badly .
- 5. It is the third task that is being neglected .