terzo

Forms

terzo (feminine terza, masculine plural terzi, feminine plural terze)^[1] Old and dialect forms include Old Italian terso, Old Italian tercio and Old Italian terzio.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin tertius (“third”), the ordinal formed from trēs (“three”).^[3][4][5][1] The same word is French tiers, Occitan tertz, Catalan ters, Friulian terts and Romansh terz; Spanish tercio and Portuguese terço are learned.^[4][6][7] The Latin word comes from Proto-Italic *tritios, from Proto-Indo-European *tr̥tyós, the ordinal of Proto-Indo-European *tréyes (“three”); it is akin to Ancient Greek τρίτος (trítos).^[1][8][9] The Latin cluster /tj/ gave Italian /ts/, written ⟨z⟩.^[1][3]

Some uses were modelled on French: the word in law for a person outside a legal relationship translates French tiers, and terzo stato and terzo mondo are from French tiers état and tiers monde (1956).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first records are the form terthio in a Gallurese charter of 1173 and tercia in a Veronese document of the 13th century, perhaps of 1205.^[3] Dante uses terzo as the ordinal number in the Commedia (1300–1313).^[3]

Semantic evolution

The noun “a third part” is in Folcacchiero de' Folcacchieri in the 13th century, and Matteo Villani writes that a third of the citizens died of the plague.^[3][10] The use for an outsider is older than the legal term: Giorgio Vasari has i terzi “others, outsiders” in 1550, and Vincenzo Martelli wrote terza persona for a go-between in 1563; the legal terzo is recorded in 1863.^[3]

In the 16th and 17th centuries terzo also named a Spanish infantry regiment, after Spanish tercio.^[2][11][12] Galileo used terzo as an adverb, “thirdly”.^[10][12] The feminine terza names the third gear, the third class of a school and the canonical hour of terce.^[3][4]

Timeline

• 1173 – Terthio appears in a Gallurese charter.^[3]
• 13th century – Folcacchiero uses terzo for a third part.^[3]
• 1300–1313 – Dante uses the ordinal.^[3]
• 1550 – Vasari uses terzi for outsiders.^[3]
• 1601 – Terzo is recorded for a Spanish-style infantry regiment.^[11]
• 1863 – The legal sense “third party” is recorded.^[3]
• 1956 – French tiers monde is coined, the model of terzo mondo.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. third: coming after the second in a series: Abitiamo al terzo piano.^[5][13][14]
2. After the name of a ruler or pope, written III: Napoleone III.^[5][13][14]
3. Being one of three equal parts: la terza parte del raccolto.^[5][14][15]
4. Outside a group or agreement; neutral: paesi terzi.^[14][1]

Noun

1. A third, one of three equal parts: Ha speso un terzo dello stipendio in affitto.^[5][14][1]
2. A third person; in the plural, other people, outsiders: Non voglio che la cosa si sappia in giro tra terzi.^[5][1]
3. (law) A third party, a person outside a legal relationship.^[5][3]

Word family

• terza
• terzetto
• terzina
• terzino
• terziario
• terziere
• terzultimo
• terzarolo
• terzana
• rinterzare
• interzare

Related words

• tre
• Latin tertius
• French tiers

Usage notes

Common phrases are in terzo luogo “thirdly”, terza età “old age”, di terz'ordine “third-rate”, and terzo grado for a harsh interrogation.^[13][16][15] The regiment terzo, after Spanish tercio, is a historical word.^[2][12]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
4. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
10. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
11. ^ a b Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
12. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3769
13. ^ a b c Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
14. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
15. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
16. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli