trilogy

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈtɹɪləd͡ʒi/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek τριλογία (trilogía, “a series of three related tragedies”),^[2][3][4] from τρι- (tri-, “three”) and λόγος (lógos, “story, speech”) (see -logy).^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A speech or writing in three parts: 1661, in Blount's Glossographia, in Barnhart and the OED, the 1660s in Etymonline.^[2][5][3]

Semantic evolution

In ancient Athens a trilogy was a series of three tragedies performed together at the festival of Dionysus, originally forming stages of one story;^[3][2] the OED's first quotation for this sense is from 1836.^[5] Any series of three related literary or dramatic works is from 1661,^[5] and a group of three related things more widely from 1835.^[5] Hoad dates the general English use to the 19th century.^[4]

Timeline

• 1661 – a work in three parts.^[2][5]
• 1835 – any group of three.^[5]
• 1836 – a Greek trilogy.^[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A series of three related books, plays or films.
2. In ancient Greece, a series of three tragedies performed together at the festival of Dionysus.

Related words

• tetralogy
• trio
• triad
• -logy

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press