tres

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈtreːs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈtrɛs]^[1]

Forms

trēs (neuter tria); third-declension two-termination numeral, plural only^[1] The accusative masculine and feminine is also trīs; the Garigliano Bowl has the old ablative trifos.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *trejes (“three”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *tréyes (“three”).^[2][1] Cognate with Oscan trís (“three”), Umbrian trif (“three”), Sanskrit त्रयस् (tráyas, “three”), Ancient Greek τρεῖς (treîs, “three”), Old Church Slavonic триѥ (trije, “three”) and English three.^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The old Latin Garigliano Bowl has the ablative trifos, and it is in the Twelve Tables.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it was the number three, as Plautus' two or three minae and Cicero's three books on the nature of the gods.^[3][5] It was also a typically small number, as in Terence's “you won't exchange three words today”.^[4] The trēsvirī were the triumvirs in charge of the prisons and police.^[5]

Its derivatives include tertius “third”, ter “thrice” and ternī “three each”.^[2] Through Old French treis its neuter tria gave English trey, the three at cards or dice.^[6] It survives as Italian tre, French trois and Romanian trei.^[1]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus speaks of three minae.^[3][7]
• 190–159 BC – Terence uses it of a small number.^[4][7]
• late 14th century – English trey is recorded.^[6]

Meanings

Numeral

1. Three.^[4][3]
2. A few, a small number.^[4]

Related words

• tribus
• English three
• English trey

Usage notes

Isidore names Hebrew, Greek and Latin as the three sacred languages.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).