triad

CEFRB2

/ˈtɹaɪ.æd/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A group or set of three related people or things.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    A word of three syllables.

Examples

  • Tom has the dark triad of personality traits.

  • Later artworks showed many animals and gods, some of which were clearly identified with heavenly body. They often included the symbolic triad of Sun, Moon, and Venus.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
4
Synonyms
5

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. A grouping of three.

  2. A romantic or sexual relationship between three individuals; a throuple.

  3. A branch of a Chinese underground criminal society, mostly based in Hong Kong.

More examples

In context

  • There are, says the Irish triad, 'three fewnesses that are better than plenty: a fewness of fine words; a fewness of cows on grass; a fewness of good friends around good ale'. As an Ulsterman I would agree.

  • In his general deportment he was pompous and important, affecting a species of florid elocution, which often became ridiculous from his misarranging the triads and quaternions with which he loaded his sentences.

Synonyms

Quick test

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The three friends decided to form a blank to work together on the project.

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Nearby

Origin

noun

PIE word *tréyes From Latin triad-, stem of trias (“three, triad”), from Ancient Greek τριάς (triás). By surface analysis, tri- + -ad. Sense 3 (“branch of a Chinese underground criminal society”) is due to the word being applied by the British authorities to underground society in Hong Kong based on the geometry of the Chinese character, derived from a name used by some of those societies, 三合會 /三合会 (sānhéhuì, “Three Harmonies Society”), referring to the union between heaven, earth, and humanity.