tri

English

Etymology

Shortening of words with the initial component derived from Proto-Indo-European *tréyes (“three”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tɹaɪ/

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪ
• Homophone: try

Noun

tri (plural tris)

1. (chiefly attributive) triathlon

   a tri bike

   a tri suit

2. (computer graphics) triangle
   • 2009, Andrew Paquette, Computer Graphics for Artists II: Environments and Characters:

     The most common poly budget in use for games at the time of this writing is between 5,000 and 10,000 tris. Anything within that range is sufficient to accommodate all superficial anatomical details without resort to optimization beyond normal model cleanup.

   • 2010, Tony Mullen, Claudio Andaur, Blender Studio Projects: Digital Movie-Making, page 91:

     Tris and quads have different areas of functionality. In real-time graphics, tris are the norm because they provide the most basic geometric representations of planes.

3. (bodybuilding, colloquial, uncommon) triceps

Anagrams

• IRT, RTI, TIR, Tir, rit

Albanian

Etymology

From Proto-Albanian *trī(-ā), from Proto-Indo-European *tríh₂ (“three”). Cognate to Ancient Greek τρία (tría, “three”) and Latin tria (“three”).

Numeral

tri

1. three

Related terms

• tre

Atong (India)

Etymology

From English three.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tri/

Numeral

tri (Bengali script ত্রি)

1. three

Synonyms

• tham
• rongtham
• tiin

References

• van Breugel, Seino. 2015. Atong-English dictionary, second edition. Available online: https://www.academia.edu/487044/Atong_English_Dictionary. Stated in Appendix 2.

Bislama

Etymology 1

From English tree.

Noun

tri

1. tree

Etymology 2

From English three.

Numeral

tri

1. three

Breton

Etymology

From Proto-Brythonic *tri, from Proto-Celtic *trīs, from Proto-Indo-European *tréyes.

Numeral

tri m (feminine form teir)

1. three

Cornish

Alternative forms

• (Standard Cornish) try
• (Standard Written Form) trei

Etymology

From Proto-Brythonic *tri, from Proto-Celtic *trīs, from Proto-Indo-European *tréyes.

Numeral

tri m (feminine form teyr)

1. three

Mutation

Dutch

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

tri n (uncountable)

1. synonym for trichloorethyleen, a chemical solvent

Anagrams

• rit

Elfdalian

Etymology

From Old Norse þrír, from Proto-Norse ᚦᚱᛁᛃᛟᛉ f pl (þrijoʀ), from Proto-Germanic *þrīz, from Proto-Indo-European *tréyes (“three”).

Numeral

tri

1. three

Esperanto

Etymology

Borrowed from Russian три (tri), Latin trēs, English three, etc., all ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *tréyes.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):
• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: tri

Numeral

tri

1. three (3)

Derived terms

• trio
• tripunkto (“ellipsis”)

Fanagalo

Etymology

Borrowed from English three.

Numeral

tri

1. three

Finnish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtohtori/,

Noun

tri

1. Abbreviation of tohtori.

Usage notes

Only used in writing and together with a name, and is thus not inflected. For example in phrase tri Pentti Arajärvi only the family name Arajärvi is inflected.

Tämä tri Pentti Arajärven artikkeli on mielenkiintoinen.

This article written by Dr. Pentti Arajärvi is interesting.

French

Etymology

From trier.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tʁi/

Noun

tri m (plural tris)

1. selection
2. (computing) sort

Derived terms

• tri à bulles

Further reading

• “tri”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.

Anagrams

• rit, rît, tir

Ido

Etymology

From Esperanto tri, from English three, French trois, German drei, Spanish tres, Italian tre, Russian три (tri), all ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *tréyes.

Numeral

tri

1. three (3)

Indonesian

Etymology

From Malay tri, from Sanskrit त्रि (tri), from Proto-Indo-Iranian *tráyas, from Proto-Indo-European *tréyes.

Numeral

tri

1. three

Synonyms

• tiga
• telu

Malay

Alternative forms

• تري (تري-)

Etymology

From Sanskrit त्रि (tri), from Proto-Indo-Iranian , from Proto-Indo-European *tréyes.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /təri/
• Rhymes: -əri, -ri, -i

Numeral

tri (Jawi spelling تري)

1. three

Synonyms

• tiga / تيݢ
• telu / تلو

Derived terms

• tri-
• trisula

Nigerian Pidgin

Etymology

From English three.

Numeral

tri

1. three

Norwegian Nynorsk

Alternative forms

• tre

Etymology

From Old Norse þrír, from Proto-Norse ᚦᚱᛁᛃᛟᛉ (þrijoʀ) (feminine plural), from Proto-Germanic *þrīz, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *tréyes. Compare Danish and Swedish tre, Icelandic þrír, Faroese tríggir, English three.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /triː/

Numeral

tri m (feminine trjå, neuter try or trju)

1. three; (pre-2012) alternative form of tre

   Trjå matskeider salt.

   Three tablespoons of salt.

Old Irish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

Etymology 1

From Proto-Celtic *trē (compare Welsh trwy), from Proto-Indo-European *terh₂- (“to pass through”); compare Sanskrit तिरस् (tiras), Latin trāns and Gothic 𐌸𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌷 (þairh).

Alternative forms

• tre, tré, trí

Preposition

tri (with the accusative; triggers lenition)

1. through

For quotations using this term, see Citations:tri.

Inflection

Forms combined with a definite article:

• tris(s)in (“through the m sg or f sg”)
• tris(s)a (“through the n sg”)
• trisna (“through the pl”)

Forms combined with a possessive determiner:

• trim, trem (“through my”)
• tria, trea (“through his/her/its/their”)

Forms combined with a relative pronoun:

• tresa (“through which”)

Related terms

Descendants

• Middle Irish: tre, tré, tri, trí
  • Irish: trí, tré; tré-; fríd, ⇒ fríd
  • Scottish Gaelic: tre
  • ⇒ Manx: trooid

Further reading

• G. Toner, M. Ní Mhaonaigh, S. Arbuthnot, D. Wodtko, M.-L. Theuerkauf, editors (2019), “tre”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• Thurneysen, Rudolf (1940, reprinted 2003) D. A. Binchy and Osborn Bergin, transl., A Grammar of Old Irish, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, →ISBN, § 433, 856, pages 272–73, 533–34
• Pedersen, Holger (1913) Vergleichende Grammatik der keltischen Sprachen (in German), volume II, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht, →ISBN, page 301

Etymology 2

Numeral

tri

1. Alternative spelling of trí

Portuguese

Etymology

Possibly borrowed from French très.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -i

Adjective

tri

1. (Rio Grande do Sul) cool, nice, good, interesting
2. (Rio Grande do Sul) Clipping of trilegal

Adverb

tri

1. (Rio Grande do Sul) very

   Synonym: tro

See also

• tri-

Romagnol

Etymology

From Latin tres (“three”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tri/

Numeral

tri

1. three

Samoan Plantation Pidgin

Etymology 1

From English three.

Numeral

tri

1. three

Etymology 2

From English tree.

Noun

tri

1. tree

References

• Mosel, Ulrike (1980) Tolai and Tok Pisin: the influence of the substratum on the development of New Guinea Pidgin (Pacific Linguistics; Series B, no. 73)‎, Canberra: Australian National University, →ISBN

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *tri, from Proto-Balto-Slavic *tríjes, from Proto-Indo-European *tréyes.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /trîː/

• Audio (Serbia)

  (file)

Numeral

trȋ (Cyrillic spelling три)

1. three (3)

Usage notes

• As a vestige of the Proto-Slavic dual number, nouns following the numbers 2-4 are in genitive singular.
• In standard Serbo-Croatian, tri declines according to case, but this is not always done in speech.

Declension

Derived terms

• trodnevni

Sicilian

Etymology

From Latin trēs.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʈɽi/ (Stressed)
• IPA^(key): /ʈɽi/ (Unstressed)

Numeral

tri

1. three

Slovak

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *tri.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

Numeral

tri

1. three (3)

Coordinate terms

Further reading

• “tri”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2024

Slovene

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *tri, from Proto-Balto-Slavic *tríjes, from Proto-Indo-European *tréyes.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tríː/

Numeral

trȋ

1. three

Usage notes

This is the usual form used when counting or reciting numbers.

Spanish

Etymology

Clipping of tricolor

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɾi/
• Rhymes: -i
• Syllabification: tri

Noun

tri m (uncountable)

1. (soccer, preceded by "el") the Mexican national football team

   Synonym: tricolor

Noun

tri f (uncountable)

1. (soccer, preceded by "la") the Ecuador national football team

   Synonym: tricolor

Tok Pisin

Etymology

From English three.

Numeral

tri

1. three (3)

Usage notes

Used when counting; see also tripela.

Coordinate terms

Torres Strait Creole

Etymology 1

From English three.

Numeral

tri

1. three

Etymology 2

From English tree.

Noun

tri

1. tree

Venetian

Etymology

From Latin trēs. Compare Italian tre.

Numeral

tri m

1. three

Synonyms

• tre

Vietnamese

Alternative forms

• trây

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key):
• (Huế) IPA^(key):
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key):

Verb

tri

1. to smear; to daub

See also

Welsh

Etymology

From Proto-Brythonic *tri, from Proto-Celtic *trīs, from Proto-Indo-European *tréyes.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /triː/
• Rhymes: -iː

Numeral

tri m (feminine tair)

1. (cardinal number) three

Usage notes

Tri is used only before grammatically masculine nouns. It triggers the aspirate mutation in the written language, but this is heard only occasionally in speech.

Derived terms

• trisain (“triphthong”)

Mutation