ternus Latin · revision 31225

19 Oct 2026, 01:30 by bogdan “la10k Latin batch la75n/b02” current version
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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=ine-pro *tréyes}}
+ 
+ ==Forms==
+ '''ternus''' (feminine terna, neuter ternum); first/second-declension numeral^(Wiktionary)
+ 
+ ==Etymology==
+ It is the rare singular of [[m|la|ternī|t=three each]], formed from [[m|la|ter|t=three times]] (from [[m|la|trēs|t=three]]) with the suffix [[m|la|-nus]]; compare the older [[m|la|trīnī]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan suggests that ⟨ternī⟩ goes back to ⟨*tri-no-⟩, as expected from Proto-Indo-European, and ⟨trīnī⟩ to a newer ⟨*trisno-⟩; he derives ⟨trēs⟩ from [[itc-pro|*trejes]] and [[ine-pro|*tréyes|t=three]].^(de Vaan 2008)
+ 
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ Plautus is its first author in the OLD, whose ''Epidicus'' has captives “two and three apiece”, and whose ''Mercator'' has a riddle of “three letters” – ''amō''.^(OLD 2012)
+ 
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ In the plural it is the distributive “three each”, “three at a time”, as the historian Asellio's “never fewer than three thousand men followed Gracchus”, and of a set, simply three.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) Wiktionary also gives triple or threefold.^(Wiktionary)
+ 
+ In Church usage ''ternus'' or ''terna'' is a list of three names, the candidates for an appointment to an office.^(Stelten 1995) Köbler dates the singular in British medieval Latin to the 12th century.^(Köbler 2010)
+ 
+ ==Timeline==
+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of three apiece.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 12th century – the singular in British medieval Latin.^(Köbler 2010)
+ 
+ ==Meanings==
+ ===Numeral===
+ # ''(plural)'' Three each, three apiece; three at a time; three (in a set).^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)
+ # [[m|en|triple|alt=Triple]], threefold.^(Wiktionary)
+ # ''(Ecclesiastical Latin)'' A group of three; a list of three candidates for an office.^(Stelten 1995)
+ 
+ ==Word family==
+ * [[ternārius]]
+ * [[terniō]]
+ 
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[trēs]]
+ * [[ter]]
+ * [[trīnī]]
+ * [[bīnī]]
+ 
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}