Word.ws English Dictionary

tertiary

Syllables: ter·ti·a·ryUK/ˈtɜː.ʃi.ə.ɹiː//ˈtɝ.ʃiˌɛɹ.i/

tertiary adjective: of third rank or order; subsequent.

Adjective (1)

tertiary (not comparable)

  1. Of third rank or order; subsequent.
    • Beſides theſe primordial mountains, M. [P[eter] S[imon]] Pallas maintains, that there are others of a more recent origin. These he calls ſecondary and tertiary: […] the latter ariſe from the wrecks and contents of the ſea, raiſed and tranſported by volcanic eruptions and conſequent inundations.1780, “Art. XIV. Observations sur la Formation des Montagnes et les Changemens arrivés au Globe, &c.—Observations on the Formation of Mountains, and the Changes and Revolutions which have taken place...
    • An untaught peasant beheld the elements around him and was acquainted with their practical uses. The most learned philosopher knew little more. He had partially unveiled the face of Nature, but her immortal lineaments were still a wonder and a mystery. He might dissect, anatomize, and give names...1831, [Mary Shelley], chapter 2, in Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus (Standard Novels; no. 9), rev. and corr. edition, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, New Burlington Street...
  2. Possessing some quality in the third degree; especially having been subjected to the substitution of three atoms or radicals.
    • a tertiary alcohol, amine, or salt
    • If, on the other hand, we remember that a tertiary monoamine, such as must be formed by the final methylation of the ammonia fragment in aniline when submitted to the action of an alcohol chloride, is invariably converted into an ammonium compound it must appear rather strange that in the process...1873 January 3, A[ugust] W[ilhelm von] Hofmann, “Synthesis of Aromatic Monoamines by Intramolecular Atomic Interchange”, in William Crookes, editor, The Chemical News and Journal of Physical Science...
  3. Of quills: growing on the innermost joint of a bird's wing; tertial.
    • The primary, secondary, and tertiary wing feathers (remiges) of adult mourning doves are shed and replaced yearly in an orderly sequence, so flight is possible during molt. […] Little is known about the shedding sequence of the secondary or tertiary feathers or the related coverts. If it is similar...1993, Ralph E. Mirarchi, “Growth, Maturation, and Molt”, in Thomas S. Baskett, Mark W. Sayre, Roy E. Tomlinson, Ralph E. Mirarchi, editors, Ecology and Management of the Mourning Dove (Wildlife...

Noun

tertiary (plural tertiaries)

  1. Any item considered to be of third order.
    • The primary rhizomes usually die during the growing season. The tertiaries and secondaries, however, live through the winter and become primary rhizomes the following year.1958 August, Ellis W. Hauser, H. Fred Arle, “Growth Habits”, in Johnson Grass as a Weed (Farmers’ Bulletin; no. 1537), Washington, D.C.: United States Department of Agriculture, →OCLC, page 4, column2
    • The options available for distribution of water during times of reduced supply or demand are the following: […] (b) To reduce the rate of flow in the primary canal (still maintaining continuous flow in it) and to supply full flow in rotation to secondaries and their tertiaries; (c) to reduce the...1995 April, Donald [E.] Campbell, “Hydraulics of Canal Regulation and Types of Control Structures”, in Design and Operation of Smallholder Irrigation in South Asia (World Bank Technical Paper...
  2. A tertiary colour.
    • My principal objection is against the compound or derivative tints, given under the denominations of secondaries and tertiaries.1817 August 16, Thomas Hargreaves, “XXI. On the Work Entitled ‘Chromatics;’ or, An Essay on the Analogy and Harmony of Colours. By Mr. T. Hargreaves.”, in Alexander Tilloch, editor, The Philosophical...
    • [Rudolf] Arnheim suggested that the capacity of activating tensions is to be found in the tertiary hues, which are unbalanced mixtures of primaries that are present in different quantities. This peculiar relationship between tertiaries must be distinguished from the interaction of complementary...1993, Augusto Garau, “Introduction: A Theory of Color Mixtures”, in Nicola Bruno, transl., Color Harmonies, Chicago, Ill.; London: University of Chicago Press, →ISBN, page 3
  3. Something from the Tertiary Period (the former term for the geologic period from 65 million to 2.58 million years ago).
    • There is, within our area, a great gap between the Eocene group and the later tertiaries, indicated by the difference of their organic contents. Between the existing fauna of our seas and the oldest stage of the later tertiaries, there is a distinct and extensive relationship of identity of species.1852, Edward Forbes, “Introductory Remarks”, in Monograph of the Echinodermata of the British Tertiaries, London: Printed [by C. and J. Adland] for the Palæontographical Society, →OCLC, page vi
  4. A tertiary feather; a tertial.
    • The feathers [of the least sandpiper (Calidris minutilla)], black centrally, are margined with bright rufous, especially on the back, scapulars, and tertiaries, and with white tips on the latter; the stripes on the middle of the throat and chest are indistinct or almost absent, more evident on...1955, Thomas S. Roberts, “Key to Shore Birds”, in Manual for the Identification of the Birds of Minnesota and Neighboring States, rev. edition, Minneapolis, Minn.: University of Minnesota Press...
    • Coincident with the dropping out of the fifth or sixth primary is the molt of the outermost tertiary, followed by the adjoining tertiary, and then the third tertiary, which in most passerine birds is the last or innermost.1956, Olin Sewall Pettingill, [Jr.], A Laboratory and Field Manual of Ornithology, 3rd rev. edition, Minneapolis, Minn.: Burgess Publishing Company, →OCLC, page 142
  5. A large stage in some extremely powerful thermonuclear weapons (resembling a greatly-enlarged secondary) which is compressed by the explosion of the secondary until ignition of nuclear fusion takes place, in much the same manner as the secondary is imploded by the primary, and which can allow for the attainment of yields of many tens or even hundreds of megatons, and likely even greater; not used in modern weapons due to a greater focus on the accurate use of sub-megaton weapons, the tremendous size of weapons incorporating a tertiary, and the lack of targets whose destruction would necessitate the use of a three-stage weapon.
    • A gigaton-scale weapon would of necessity be a three-stage design (incorporating a fusion tertiary - likely with its own massive fission tamper - in addition to the fission primary and fission-jacketed fusion secondary), as a reasonably-sized primary would likely have difficulty imploding to...
  6. A member of a Roman Catholic third order; a layperson who participates in activities similar to those engaged in by men and women who take religious vows (respectively the first and second orders), and who may wear some elements of an order's habit such as a scapular.
    • Tertiaries living in places where there is no Church of the Order or of the Third Order can gain all the indulgences they would gain visiting such a church, by visiting their respective parish church, or, where there is no parochial church, by visiting another church or public oratory, and...1952, Dominican Tertiaries’ Manual: For the Daily Use of Private and Fraternity Tertiaries of the Third Order of St. Dominic, 1st rev. edition, New York, N.Y.: Third Order of St. Dominic, published...
    • Immediately after her arrival in Ferrara, while she was still striving to secure the foundation of her exemplary reformed community of Dominican tertiaries, [Lucia] Brocadelli also renewed her attempts to enhance [Girolamo] Savonarola's saintly reputation.2008, Tamar Herzig, “The Power of Visions: Lucia Brocadelli and Osanna Andreasi”, in Savonarola’s Women: Visions and Reform in Renaissance Italy, Chicago, Ill.; London: University of Chicago Press...

Adjective (2) capitalized: Tertiary

Tertiary (not comparable)

  1. Of or pertaining to the first part of the Cenozoic era when modern flora and mammals appeared.

Proper noun capitalized: Tertiary

Tertiary

  1. The first part of the Cenozoic era when modern flora and mammals appeared.
    • […] a continental northern Alaskan element, including a series of endemic species and disjuncts that have survived the Pleistocene glaciation in northern Alaska and thus represent relicts of the much warmer Tertiary […]1966 October, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume I, New York, N.Y.; London: Columbia University Press, →OCLC, page 4

tertiary meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

tertiary in Hindi

तृतीयक

tertiary in Tamil

மூன்றாம் வரிசை சார்ந்த, மூன்றாம் வரிசை இறகு, புடையான, மூன்றாம் நிலை, மூன்றாம்படி, மூன்றாவது

tertiary in Marathi

तृतीयक

tertiary in Urdu

ترتیری
More languagesFewer languages
tertiary in Gujarati
તૃતીયક
tertiary in Nepali
टर्शियरी, टर्शरी
tertiary in Malay
tertier
tertiary in Indonesian
tersier

Examples of tertiary in a sentence

  • He might dissect, anatomize, and give names; but, not to speak of a final cause, causes in their secondary and tertiary grades were utterly unknown to him.1831, [Mary Shelley], chapter 2, in Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus (Standard Novels; no. 9), rev. and corr. edition, London: Henry...
  • If it is similar to that of passerines, however, loss of the outermost tertiary feather occurs coincident with loss of the fifth or sixth primary[…].1993, Ralph E. Mirarchi, “Growth, Maturation, and Molt”, in Thomas S. Baskett, Mark W. Sayre, Roy E. Tomlinson, Ralph E. Mirarchi, editors...
  • [Rudolf] Arnheim suggested that the capacity of activating tensions is to be found in the tertiary hues, which are unbalanced mixtures of primaries that are present in different quantities.1993, Augusto Garau, “Introduction: A Theory of Color Mixtures”, in Nicola Bruno, transl., Color Harmonies, Chicago, Ill.; London...

All 32 example sentences with tertiary

Synonyms of tertiary

Forms of tertiary

pluraltertiaries

Origin of tertiary

PIE word *tréyes Borrowed from the Latin tertiārius (“of the third part or rank”), from tertius (“third”) (from Proto-Indo-European *tr̥tyós, whence English third) + -ārius (whence the English suffix -ary); compare the French tertiaire. By surface analysis, terti- + -ary.

See tertiary.

Words formed from tertiary

Phrases with tertiary

4 more phrasesFewer phrases

Questions about tertiary

What does tertiary mean?
Tertiary means of third rank or order; subsequent.
What is tertiary in Hindi?
Tertiary in Hindi is तृतीयक. See Tertiary meaning in Hindi.
How do you use tertiary in a sentence?
He might dissect, anatomize, and give names; but, not to speak of a final cause, causes in their secondary and tertiary grades were utterly unknown to him.
What part of speech is tertiary?
Tertiary can be an adjective, a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce tertiary?
Tertiary is pronounced /ˈtɜː.ʃi.ə.ɹiː/ (UK).

Words near tertiary in the dictionary

  1. tertiarily
  2. tertiariness
  3. tertiarisation
  4. tertiarism
  5. tertiarization
  6. tertiary
  7. tertiary alcohol
  8. tertiary alcohols
  9. tertiary amine
  10. tertiary amines
  11. tertiary amyl

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: tertiary (page history and authors); Tertiary (page history and authors); tertiary (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); tertiary (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); tertiary (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); tertiary (Urdu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); tertiary (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); tertiary (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “tertiary.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/tertiary. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.