þri

Forms

þrī (strong)^[1]

• Masculine nominative and accusative þrīe, þrȳ, þrī; feminine and neuter þrēo, þrīo; genitive þrēora, dative þrim.^[2][3][1]
• Northumbrian ðrea, ðria, genitive ðreana.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *þrīʀ, from Proto-Germanic *þrīz (“three”), from Proto-Indo-European *tréyes (“three”).^[1][4] The numeral survives in all the old Germanic languages: Gothic 𐌸𐍂𐌴𐌹𐍃 (þreis), Old Norse þrír, Old Frisian thrē, Old Saxon thrīa and Old High German drī.^[4][5][6] Outside Germanic it is Latin trēs, Ancient Greek τρεῖς (treîs) and Lithuanian trỹs.^[4][5]

Hogg and Fulk derive the masculine nominative from the Proto-Germanic form with the loss of the final *-z and the pronominal ending ⟨-e⟩, and the neuter and feminine þrēo from the Pre-Old English neuter and feminine forms with the usual adjective endings.^[2][7] The dative ⟨þrim⟩ answers to a Proto-Germanic *þrimiz.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest dated instance is in the will of Abba, a Kentish reeve, of 833×839, on a single sheet held to be contemporary, which lists the yearly render to Christ Church: ðritig ombra alað & ðreo hund hlafa "thirty measures of ale and three hundred loaves".^[8][9]

Semantic evolution

The numeral is declined for gender and case; Ælfric's Grammar sets þrȳ for Latin masculine and feminine tres and þrēo for neuter tria.^[3] It is used as an adjective and as a noun with a genitive, and Toller's Supplement adds a multiplicative use, ðreó swá feala "three times as many".^[3][10] The combining form þri- appears in compounds.^[11][5]

The numeral continued as Middle English thre and threo, now English three.^[12][1] Etymonline notes that the English word continues the feminine and neuter þrēo.^[13]

Timeline

• 833×839 – ðreo hund hlafa in the will of Abba.^[8][9]
• 890×897 – ðrio in the Pastoral Care (Hatton 20).^[14][9]
• s. ix/x – þrie Scottas in the annal for 891 of the Parker Chronicle.^[15][9][3]
• s. x med. – þry and þrie in Bald's Leechbook.^[16][9]

Meanings

Numeral

1. three.^[3][6][17]
2. three times (as much), in þrēo swā fela.^[10]

Word family

• þrīfeald
• þrīnes
• þrīwa
• þrītiġ
• þrēotīene

Descendants

• Middle English thre (→ English three; Scots three; Scots threi)^[1]

Related words

• þridda

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Hogg, Richard M.; Fulk, R. D. (2011), A Grammar of Old English, vol. 2: Morphology, Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, p. § 4.85
3. ^ a b c d e f Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 1068
4. ^ a b c Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 425
5. ^ a b c Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 369
6. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. þrío
7. ^ Hogg, Richard M.; Fulk, R. D. (2011), A Grammar of Old English, vol. 2: Morphology, Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, p. § 4.86
8. ^ a b The Electronic Sawyer: Online Catalogue of Anglo-Saxon Charters, revised ed. by S. E. Kelly and R. Rushforth, King's College London / University of Cambridge, esawyer.lib.cam.ac.uk, p. S 1482
9. ^ a b c d e Healey, Antonette diPaolo; Price Wilkin, John; Xiang, Xin, eds. (2009), Dictionary of Old English Web Corpus, Toronto: Dictionary of Old English Project
10. ^ a b Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. Suppl. 730
11. ^ Sweet, Henry (1896), The Student's Dictionary of Anglo-Saxon, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 205
12. ^ Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
13. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
14. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 499
15. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 83
16. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 412
17. ^ Fulk, R. D.; Bjork, Robert E.; Niles, John D., eds. (2008), Klaeber's Beowulf and The Fight at Finnsburg, 4th ed., Toronto: University of Toronto Press (glossary), p. s.v. þrīo