Added 9 October 2026
tertiary
/ˈtɜː.ʃi.ə.ɹiː/ noun
Latin root: tertiārius Wiktionary
noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about tertiary at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
adjective
Origin
PIE word *tréyes Borrowed from the Latin tertiārius (“of the third part or rank”), from tertius (“third”) (from Proto-Indo-European *tr̥tyós, whence English third) + -ārius (whence the English suffix -ary); compare the French tertiaire. By surface analysis, terti- + -ary.
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)