Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A prefix of Latin and Greek origin, meaning ‘three.’
  • noun Specifically, in chem., a prefix to the names of compounds containing three atoms or combining units of some particular element or radical, as sulphur trioxid, SO3, and triethylamine, N(C2H5)3.

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

  • A prefix meaning three, thrice, threefold; as in tricolored, tridentate.
  • (Chem.) A prefix (also used adjectively) denoting three proportional or combining part, or the third degree of that to the name of which it is prefixed; as in trisulphide, trioxide, trichloride.

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

  • prefix three
  • prefix chemistry Used in combination with a known element name (e.g. 'tri-silicon') to designate an unknown element that would reside three periods lower than the known element on a Mendeleev-type periodic table. See Mendeleev's predicted elements.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin tres ("three") and Ancient Greek τρία (tria, "three").

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Sanskrit  (tri-, "three").

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