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trois

Etymology and origin of the French word trois

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
late 10th century, Passion de Clermont (tres)
Inherited from
Latin tres via Old French
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*tréyes)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin tres
French trois

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /tʁwa/[1]
  • IPA: /tʁwɑ/[1]
  • IPA: [t̪χwa][1]
  • IPA (Quebec, informal): [tʁwɔ][1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French treis, inherited from Latin trēs (“three”).[2][3][4][1] Old French also had an analogical subject form “trei” and the form “troie”, from tria, the neuter plural, used for “the number three at dice”.[5][2] The Latin word goes back to Proto-Italic *trēs and Proto-Indo-European *tréyes.[1][3]

Cognate with Romanian trei, Italian tre, Occitan tres, Catalan tres, Spanish tres and Portuguese três.[6][7] The same root is seen in Ancient Greek τρεῖς (treîs), Sanskrit त्रयः (trayaḥ), Old Church Slavonic трие (trije), German drei and English three.[3][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as tres at the end of the 10th century in the Passion of Clermont (tres femmes “three women”), as a cardinal number.[2]

Semantic evolution

Like the other numbers, it soon served for a small, vague amount: trois ou quatre (1464, Pathelin), deux ou trois heures (1547), dire en trois mots (1637).[2] As an ordinal meaning “third” it dates from 1602, and Madame de Sévigné's use was still felt as familiar in 1689.[2][8][3]

As a noun, le trois named a playing card (1571), the face of a die (1694), the third day of the month (1672) and the number three (1674).[2][9] In theatre slang it was the third act (1775), and in skating a figure shaped like a 3 (1906).[9][2] In the 16th century Bèze said that Parisians wrongly pronounced it troas or tras; the approved pronunciation was then trouè.[10]

Timeline

  • Late 10th century – Tres femmes in the Passion of Clermont.[2]
  • c. 1175 – The form trois in Chrétien de Troyes.[8][3]
  • 1464 – Trois ou quatre “a few” in the Farce de Maître Pathelin.[2]
  • 1571 – Le trois, a playing card.[2][9]
  • 1602 – Used as an ordinal, “third”.[2]
  • 1672 – Le trois, the third day of the month.[2]
  • 1775 – Le trois, the third act of a play.[9]
  • 1906 – A figure in ice skating.[2]

Meanings

Numeral

  1. three: two plus one.[6][11]
  2. Third, in numbering: chapitre trois, Henri III.[11][12]
  3. A small, vague amount: il n'a pas dit trois mots.[11][8]

Noun

  1. The number or figure 3.[11]
  2. A playing card, or the face of a die or domino, with three marks.[11]
  3. The third day of the month.[2]

Word family

  • troisième
  • trois-six
  • tiers
  • trente
  • treize
  • Latin trēs

Usage notes

The s is sounded as /z/ before a vowel: trois amis.[2][10] Règle de trois is the rule of three in arithmetic.[10][11]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  3. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 13/2, 247b
  5. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  6. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  8. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  9. ^ a b c d Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  10. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  11. ^ a b c d e f Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  12. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Trois.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/trois. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·