three

Reading level: easy

Estimated CEFR level: A1 — Beginner

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one and one
  2. noun one of four playing cards in a deck having three pips
  3. adjective being one more than two

Etymology

From Middle English thre, threo, thrie, thri, from Old English þrī, from Proto-West Germanic *þrīʀ, from Proto-Germanic *þrīz, from Proto-Indo-European *tréyes. Doublet of tres and trey. Cognate with German drei, Albanian tre, Armenian երեք (erekʻ), Latin trēs, Latvian trīs, Lithuanian trỹs, Greek τρεῖς (treís), Old Church Slavonic трьѥ (trĭje), and others.

In classic literature

Synonyms

3, III, trio, threesome, tierce, leash, troika, triad, trine, trinity, ternary, ternion, triplet, tercet, terzetto, trey, deuce-ace

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