Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition

Three

(thrē)

Adj.

[OE.

þre

þreo

þri

, AS.

þrī

, masc.,

þreó

, fem. and neut.; akin to OFries.

thre

, OS.

thria

threa

, D.

drie

, G.

drei

, OHG.

drī

, Icel.

þrīr

, Dan. & Sw.

tre

, Goth.

þreis

, Lith.

trys

, Ir., Gael. & W.

tri

, Russ.

tri

, L.

tres

, Gr.

τρεῖς

, Skr.

tri

. √301. Cf. 3d

Adj.

One more than two; two and one.

“I offer thee three things.”

2 Sam. xxiv. 12.

Three

solemn aisles approach the shrine.

Keble.

☞

Three

is often joined with other words, forming compounds signifying divided into, composed of, or containing, three parts, portions, organs, or the like; as,

three

-branched,

three

-capsuled,

three

-celled,

three

-cleft,

three

-edged,

three

-foot,

three

-footed,

three

-forked,

three

-grained,

three

-headed,

three

-legged,

three

-mouthed,

three

-nooked,

three

-petaled,

three

-pronged,

three

-ribbed,

three

-seeded,

three

-stringed,

three

-toed, and the like.

Three

Noun.

The number greater by a unit than two; three units or objects.

A symbol representing three units, as 3 or iii.

Rule of three

(Arith.)

See under

Rule

Noun.

Webster 1828 Edition

Three

THREE

Adj.

[L. tres.]

Two and one.

I offer thee three things. 2 Sam. 24.

It is often used like other adjectives, without the noun to which it refers.

Abishai--attained not to the first three. 2 Sam.23.

Proverbially, a small number.

Away, thou three-inched fool. [I believe obsolete.]

Definition 2024

three

English

**English numbers**
	30
< 2	3	4 >
Cardinal : three Ordinal : third Adverbial : thrice Multiplier : triple

Alternative forms

thre, threy, thrie (all obsolete)

Numeral

three

(cardinal) A numerical value after two and before four. Represented in Arabic digits as 3; this many dots (•••).
- 1912, Zane Grey, Riders of the Purple Sage, Chapter 8
  Venters began to count them—one—two—three—four—on up to sixteen.
(of a set or group) Having three elements.

Related terms

third, thrice, triple

Synonyms

(numerical value): leash, tether (dialectal)

Translations

cardinal number 3

Abaza: хпа ‎(xpā)
Abkhaz: хԥа ‎(xpā), хҧа ‎(xpā) (old spelling)
Afrikaans: drie
Ainu: レ ‎(re)
Albanian: tre (sq) m, tri (sq) f
Alutiiq: pingayun
American Sign Language:
Amharic: ሦስት (am) ‎(śost), ሶስት ‎(sost) (numeral: ፫ ‎(3))
Arabic: ثَلَاثَة ‎(ṯalāṯa) (numeral: ٣ ‎(3))

Egyptian: تلاتة ‎(talāta)

Moroccan Arabic: تْلاتة ‎(tlata)
Aragonese: tres
Aramaic:

Hebrew: תלתא m ‎(tlātā’), תלת f ‎(tlāt)

Syriac: ܬܠܬܐ m ‎(tlātā’), ܬܠܬ f ‎(tlāt)
Armenian: երեք (hy) ‎(erekʿ)
Aromanian: trei (roa-rup)
Asháninka: mawa
Assamese: তিনি ‎(tini)
Asturian: tres (ast), trés (ast)
Aymara: kimsa (ay)
Azeri: üç (az)
Banjarese: talu
Bashkir: өс ‎(ös)
Basque: hiru (eu)
Belarusian: тры (be) ‎(try), (collective) тро́е ‎(tróje), тро́йка f ‎(trójka)
Bengali: তিন (bn) ‎(tin) (numeral: ৩ ‎(3))
Brahui: musiŧ
Breton: tri (br) m, teir (br) f
Bulgarian: три ‎(tri)
Burmese: သုံး (my) ‎(sum:) (numeral: ၃ ‎(3))
Buryat: гурбан ‎(gurban)
Catalan: tres (ca)
Central Atlas Tamazight: ⴽⵕⴰⴹ ‎(kṛaḍ)
Chamicuro: kilko
Chechen: кхоъ ‎(qoʾ)
Cherokee: ᏦᎢ ‎(tsoi)
Chichewa: tatu
Chinese:

Cantonese: 三 ‎(sam¹)

Dungan: сан ‎(san)

Hakka: 三 ‎(sāng)

Mandarin: 三 (zh) ‎(sān) (numeral: 參 (zh))

Eastern Hokkien (Min Dong): 三 ‎(sang)

Southern Hokkien (Min Nan): (Xiamen) 三 (zh-min-nan) ‎(sā̃, sām), (Teochew) sam1

Wu: 三 ‎(se), 三 ‎(sae)
Chukchi: ӈыроӄ ‎(ŋəroq)
Chuukese: unungat, won
Chuvash: виҫӗ ‎(viśĕ)
Cornish: tri m, teyr f
Corsican: trè (co)
Crimean Tatar: üç
Czech: tři (cs), (collective) troje (cs)
Dalmatian: tra
Danish: tre (da)
Dena'ina: tuq'i
Dolgan: үс ‎(üs)
Dutch: drie (nl)
Eastern Mari: кумыт ‎(kumət)
Erzya: колмо ‎(kolmo)
Esperanto: tri (eo)
Estonian: kolm (et)
Evenki: илан ‎(ilan)
Faroese: tríggir m, tríggjar f, trý n, trinnir m (distributive number)
Fijian: tolu (fj)
Finnish: kolme (fi)
French: trois (fr)
Friulian: trê
Ga: etɛ̃, etɛ
Gagauz: üç
Galician: tres (gl)
Garifuna: ürüwa
Ge'ez: ሠለስቱ m ‎(śälästu), ሠላስ f ‎(śälas) (numeral: ፫ ‎(3))
Georgian: სამი (ka) ‎(sami)
German: drei (de)
Gilbertese: tenua
Gothic: 𐌸𐍂𐌹𐌾𐌰 ‎(þrija)
Greek: τρία (el) ‎(tría), γ΄ ‎(g΄) (numeral)
Greenlandic: pingasut (kl)
Guaraní: mbohapy
Gujarati: ત્રગડો ‎(tragaḍo) (numeral: ૩ (gu) ‎(3))
Haitian Creole: twa
Hausa: ukù
Hawaiian: kolu, ʻekolu
Hebrew: שָׁלוֹשׁ (he) f ‎(shalosh) (used in counting), שְׁלוֹשָׁה m ‎(shlosha)
Hindi: तीन (hi) ‎(tīn) (numeral: ३ (hi) ‎(3))
Hopi: pàayoʼ
Hungarian: három (hu)
Icelandic: þrír (is) m, þrjár (is) f, þrjú (is) n
Ido: tri (io)
Ilocano: tallo
Inari Sami: kulmâ
Indonesian: tiga (id)
Ingush: кхоъ ‎(qoʾ)
Interlingua: tres
Interlingue:
Irish: trí (ga)
Old Irish: trí
Istriot: trì
Istro-Romanian: trei
Italian: tre (it)
Itelmen: ч’оӄ ‎(ç’oq)
Japanese: 三 (ja) ‎(さん, san; み, mi), 三つ (みっつ, mittsu), ３ (ja)
Javanese: telu (jv)
Norman: trais
Kalmyk: һурвн ‎(hurvn)
Kannada: ಮೂರು (kn) ‎(mūru): (numeral: ೩ (kn) ‎(3))
Karachay-Balkar: юч ‎(üç)
Karaim: üč
Karelian: kolme
Kashubian: trzë
Kazakh: үш (kk) ‎(üş)
Khakas: ӱс ‎(üs)
Khanty: хәԓум ‎(xəḷum) (Kazym)
Khmer: បី (km) ‎(bei) (numeral: ៣ ‎(3))
Komi-Zyrian: куйм ‎(kujm)
Korean: 셋 (ko) ‎(set), 세 (ko) ‎(se) (determiner), 석 (ko) ‎(seok), 삼 (ko) ‎(sam) (三 (ko))
Koryak: ӈыёӄ
Kumyk: уьч ‎(üç)
Kuna: pa
Kurdish:

Kurmanji: sê (ku)

Sorani: سێ ‎(sê)
Kyrgyz: үч (ky) ‎(üç)
Lakota: yámni
Lao: ສາມ ‎(sām) (numeral: ໓ ‎())
Latgalian: treis pl
Latin: trēs (la) m, f, tria (la) n
Latvian: trīs (lv)
Lithuanian: trys (lt) m, trys (lt) f
Livonian: kuolm
Lojban: ci (jbo)
Low German:

Dutch Low Saxon: drij (Gronings), drèje (Gronings)

German Low German: drei (nds), dree (nds)
Luo: adek
Luxembourgish: dräi (lb)
Lü: ᦉᦱᧄ ‎(ṡaam)
Macedonian: три (mk) ‎(tri)
Madurese: telloʔ

Malagasy: telo (mg)
Malay:

Rumi: tiga (ms), telu, tri

Jawi: تيݢ, تلو, تري
Malayalam: മൂന്നു ‎(mūnnu), മൂന്ന് (ml) ‎(mūnn) (numeral: ൩ (ml) ‎(3))
Maltese: tlieta (mt)
Manchu: [script needed] ‎(ilan) [script needed]
Mangarevan: toru
Mansi: хурум ‎(xūrum)
Manx: three, tree
Maori: toru (mi)
Marathi: तीन ‎(tīn)
Maricopa: xamok, hmuk
Marshallese: jilu
Megleno-Romanian: trei
Minangkabau: tigo
Mirandese: trés
Mongolian: ^{(please verify)}гурав ‎(gurav), ^{(please verify)}ᠭᠤᠷᠪᠠᠨ ‎(ɣurban) (numeral: ᠓)
Montagnais: nishtᵘ
Nahuatl: ēyi (nah), yēi
Nama: ǃnona
Nauruan: aiju
Navajo: tááʼ
Nepali: तीन (ne) ‎(tīn)
Ngazidja Comorian: -raru
Nogai: уьш ‎(üş)
North Frisian:

Föhr-Amrum: trii

Helgoland: tree

Mooring: tra m, trii f, n

Sylt: trii
Northern Sami: golbma
Northern Yukaghir: йалуонь ‎(jaluoń)
Norwegian: tre (no), tri (no)
Novial: tri
O'odham: vaik
Occitan: tres (oc)
Ojibwe: niswi
Old Church Slavonic: триѥ ‎(trije), трьѥ ‎(trĭje), три ‎(tri)
Old English: þrie, þreo
Old Frisian: thrē, thriā, thriū
Old Turkic: 𐰇𐰲 ‎(üč)
Oriya: ତିନି (or) ‎(tini) (numeral: ୩)
Oscan: 𐌕𐌓𐌝𐌔 ‎(trís)
Ossetian: ӕртӕ ‎(ærtæ)
Ottoman Turkish: اوچ ‎(üç)
Papiamentu: tres
Pashto: درې (ps) ‎(dre)
Persian: سه (fa) ‎(se), سو (fa) ‎(so) (dialectal), (numeral: ۳)
Pipil: yey
Polish: trzy (pl) pl, (collective) troje (pl), trójka (pl) f
Portuguese: três (pt)
Punjabi: ਤਿੰਨ ‎(tiṅn) (numeral: ੩ ‎(3))
Purepecha: tanimu
Quechua: kimsa (qu), kinsa
Rajasthani:
Rapa Nui: ka toru
Rohingya: tin
Romani: trin
Romanian: trei (ro)
Romansch: trais
Russian: три (ru) ‎(tri), тро́е (ru) ‎(tróje) (collective), тро́йка (ru) f ‎(trójka)
Rusyn: три ‎(try)
S'gaw Karen: သၢ ‎(thø)
Samoan: tolu (sm)
Sanskrit: त्रि (sa) ‎(tri), त्रयं ‎(traya)
Sardinian: tres
Saterland Frisian: tjo
Scottish Gaelic: trì, triùir m
Serbo-Croatian:

Cyrillic: три̑

Roman: trȋ
Shan: သၢမ် ‎(sʰaam1)
Shor: ӱш ‎(üş)
Sichuan Yi: ꌕ ‎(suo)
Sicilian: tri (scn)
Sikkimese: སུམ ‎(sum)
Sindhi: ٽي (sd) ‎(ti)
Sinhalese: තුන (si) ‎(tuna)
Skolt Sami: koumm
Slovak: tri, traja
Slovene: tríje, (when counting) trí (sl)
Slovincian: třȧ͂
Somali: saddex (so)
Sorbian:

Lower Sorbian: tśi

Upper Sorbian: třo m, tři f, n
Southern Altai: ӱч ‎(üç)
Spanish: tres (es)
Sundanese: tilu (su)
Swedish: tre (sv)
Tagalog: tatlo (tl)
Tahitian: toru
Tajik: се (tg) ‎(se)
Talysh: سه ‎(se) (Asalemi)
Tamil: மூன்று (ta) ‎(mūṉṟu) (numeral: ௩ ‎(௩)), மூன்று (ta) ‎(mūṉṟu)
Taos: póyuo
Tashelhit: krad m, krat f
Tatar: өч (tt) ‎(öç)
Telugu: మూడు (te) ‎(mūḍu) (numeral: ౩ (te) ‎(3))
Thai: สาม (th) ‎(săam) (numeral: ๓ (th))
Tibetan: གསུམ ‎(gsum) (numeral: ༣ ‎(3))
Tigre: ሰለስ ‎(salas) (numeral: ፫ ‎(3))
Tigrinya: ሰለስተ ‎(sälästä) (numeral: ፫ ‎(3))
Tlingit: nás’k, nás’gináx̱
Toba Batak: tolu
Tocharian A: tre
Tocharian B: trai, trey
Tok Pisin: tripela
Tupinambá: mosapyr
Turkish: üç (tr)
Turkmen: üç (tk)
Tuvaluan: tolu
Tuvan: үш ‎(üš)
Tz'utujil: oxi
Ukrainian: три (uk) ‎(try), (collective) тро́є ‎(tróje), трі́йко ‎(tríjko) colloquial, трі́єчко ‎(tríječko) colloquial diminutive, трі́йка (uk) f ‎(tríjka)
Umbrian: 𐌕𐌓𐌉𐌚 ‎(trif)
Unami: naxa
Uyghur: ئۈچ (ug) ‎(üch)
Uzbek: uch (uz)
Venetian: tre, tri
Veps: koume
Vietnamese: ba (vi)
Vilamovian: draj
Votic: kõlmõd, кылмыд
Võro: kolm
Walloon: troes (wa)
Waray-Waray: bungto
Welsh: tri (cy) m, tair (cy) f
West Frisian: trije (fy)
Western Apache: táági
Winnebago: taanį
Wiradhuri: Bula Ngumbaay
Xhosa: ntathu
Yakut: үс ‎(üs)
Yiddish: דרײַ ‎(dray)
Yucatec Maya: óox
Yup'ik: pingayun
Zazaki: hirê
Zhuang: sam
Zuni: ha'i

set or group with three components

French: trio (fr) m
Latgalian: treji m, trejis f
Lithuanian: trejeri (lt) m, trejerios f
Macedonian: тројка f ‎(trojka)
Romanian: triplu (ro) m, n, triplă f

Russian: тро́йка (ru) f ‎(trójka)
Serbo-Croatian:

Cyrillic: тро́јка f

Roman: trójka (sh) f
Walloon: troejhinne (wa) f

Noun

three ‎(plural threes)

The digit/figure 3.
Anything measuring three units, as length.
Put all the threes in a separate container.
A person who is three years old.
All the threes will go in Mrs. Smith's class, while I'll take the fours and fives.
The playing card featuring three pips.
(basketball) Abbreviation of three-pointer.