Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A group or set of three of one kind.
  • noun One of three children born at one birth.
  • noun A group of three lines of verse.
  • noun Music A group of three notes having the time value of two notes of the same kind.
  • noun Physics A multiplet with three components.
  • noun Genetics A unit of three successive nucleotides in a molecule of DNA or RNA that codes for a specific amino acid; a codon or anticodon.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A bicycle for three riders.
  • noun A collection or combination of three of a kind, or three united.
  • noun In poetry, three verses or lines riming together.
  • noun In music, a group of three tones to be performed in the time of two or four. Such groups are marked. . Compare sextuplet, decimole, etc.
  • noun A combination of three plano-convex lenses in a compound microscope, which serves to render the object clear and distinct, and free from distortion—an improvement upon the doublet (see doublet, 2); also, a hand-microscope consisting of three double-convex lenses.
  • noun In mathematics, a system of three families of surfaces such that one of each family passes through each point of space.
  • noun One of three children born at one birth.
  • noun plural Three links of chain, generally used to connect the cable with the anchor-ring.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A collection or combination of three of a kind; three united.
  • noun (Poetry) Three verses rhyming together.
  • noun (Mus.) A group of three notes sung or played in the tree of two.
  • noun Three children or offspring born at one birth.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A group of three.
  • noun One one of a group of three.
  • noun One of a group of three siblings born at the same time to the same mother.
  • noun music A group of three notes played or written where two notes would ordinarily be; a form of tuplet.
  • noun physics A triquark.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one and one
  • noun one of three offspring born at the same time from the same pregnancy
  • noun a set of three similar things considered as a unit

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[tripl(e) + (doubl)et.]

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Examples

  • Consider a certain triplet in relation to the triplet which is complementary to it on the other chain of the double helix.

    Francis Crick - Nobel Lecture 1964

  • Thus if the first triplet is UCC, we consider it in relation to either AGG or (reading in the opposite direction) GGA.

    Francis Crick - Nobel Lecture 1964

  • The Divine Comedy is written in the _terza rima_, which consists of three verses arranged in such a way that the middle line of each triplet rhymes with the first or third verse of the succeeding triplet.

    National Epics Kate Milner Rabb 1901

  • The effect of the triplet is the same: the ear has been accustomed to expect a new rhyme in every couplet; but is on a sudden surprised with three rhymes together, to which the reader could not accommodate his voice, did he not obtain notice of the change from the braces of the margins.

    Lives of the Poets, Volume 1 Samuel Johnson 1746

  • Each Gabor patch was then defined as a triplet of bin values are the bins of hue, frequency, and orientation respectively of Gabor patch.

    PLoS ONE Alerts: New Articles Farhan Baluchg et al. 2010

  • At 23, I have concluded that being a triplet is a constant reminder of my mediocrity.

    The Globe and Mail - Home RSS feed ROSE D 2010

  • And then he found out that Phoebe had a twin, and that Laura Marinos was their 'triplet'.

    blu94anjel Diary Entry blu94anjel 2009

  • If the Trips,” she said, referring to her triplet grandchildren, “hadn’t brought you here that special Christmas almost three years ago, I might never have gotten to know you.

    Family Blessings Fern Michaels 2004

  • If the Trips,” she said, referring to her triplet grandchildren, “hadn’t brought you here that special Christmas almost three years ago, I might never have gotten to know you.

    Family Blessings Fern Michaels 2004

  • If the Trips,” she said, referring to her triplet grandchildren, “hadn’t brought you here that special Christmas almost three years ago, I might never have gotten to know you.

    Family Blessings Fern Michaels 2004

Comments

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  • Merriam-Webster says "triplet" has two syllables. However, drumming students are frequently taught to vocalise "trip-puh-lit" when learning to play this rhythm of three notes evenly spaced in one count.

    December 4, 2006