third

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third

/θɜːd/ Australia, UK
/θɝd/ US
/θɪɹd/ Scotland
/θøːd/ New Zealand
/θeːd/
/θɛːd/
/fɜːd/
/tʊːɹd/ Ireland
/t̪ɔɪd/ New York City

Sounds like turd (th-stopping), ferd (th-fronting) · Rhymes with -ɜː(ɹ)d

Where it comes from

PIE word

*tréyes

From Middle English thirde, thridde, from Old English þridda, from Proto-Germanic *þridjô, from Pre-Germanic *tretyós, a remodeling of Proto-Indo-European *tr̥tyós.

adjective

not comparable The ordinal form of the cardinal number three; Coming after the second. The third tree from the left is my favorite.
Similar: 3rd, 3d, IIIrd, III, tertiary

noun thirds

countable, uncountable The person or thing in the third position. Jones came in third.
countable, uncountable One of three equal parts of a whole. He ate a third of the pie. Divided by two-thirds.
Similar: one-third, ⅓, 1/3
abbreviation, ellipsis, uncountable Ellipsis of third gear (of a gearbox). Now put it into third.
countable, uncountable An interval consisting of the first and third notes in a scale. They sing in thirds.
countable, uncountable third base The play ended with Jones standing on third.
countable, uncountable A handicap of one stroke every third hole.
countable, uncountable A third-class degree, awarded to the lowest achievers in an honours degree programme
archaic, countable, uncountable One sixtieth of a second, i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system. […] thirds (sixtieths of seconds), fourths (sixtieths of thirds) and so on, but then it becomes very cumbersome.
Similar: tierce

verb thirds · thirding · thirded

informal To agree with a proposition or statement after it has already been seconded.
To divide into three equal parts.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: ordinal, tierce, one-third, fractional, tertiary, third gear, third base, three, fourth, fifth, sixth, twenty-third, phd, final, next, second

Translations

Every language

adj the ordinal form of the cardinal number three — see also 3rd

Español	tercero
한국어	셋째 setjjae
日本語	三番目 sanban-me, 三つ目 mittsume
中文	第三 dìsān
हिन्दी	तीसरा tīsrā, तृतीय tŕtīya, तीजा tījā
Kiswahili	ya tatu
Português	terceiro, terceira, terço, terça
Français	troisième, trois
Deutsch	dritte
Italiano	terzo, terza
Ελληνικά	τρίτος trítos
Русский	тре́тий trétij
Tiếng Việt	thứ ba
العربية	ثَالِث ṯāliṯ, ثَالِثَة ṯāliṯa
עברית	שלישי shelîyshîy

noun person or thing in the third position

Español	tercero
Português	terceiro
Français	troisième, tiers
Deutsch	Dritter, Dritte
Italiano	terzo
Română	cel de al treilea, cea de a treia
Русский	тре́тий trétij
العربية	ثَالِث ṯāliṯ

noun one of three equal parts of a whole

Español	tercio
한국어	3분의 1 3bunui 1, 삼분의 일 sambunui il
日本語	三分の一 sanbun no ichi
中文	三分之一 sān fēn zhī yī
हिन्दी	तिहाई tihāī, तीहा tīhā
Português	terço
Français	tiers
Deutsch	Drittel
Italiano	terzo
Ελληνικά	τρίτο tríto
Română	treime
Русский	треть tretʹ, третья
Tiếng Việt	phần ba
العربية	ثُلْث ṯulṯ

noun interval

Español	tercera
日本語	三度 sando
中文	三度 sāndù
Português	terça
Français	tierce
Deutsch	Terz
Italiano	terza
Română	terță
Русский	те́рция tɛ́rcija

verb divide into three parts

Deutsch	dreiteilen
Italiano	atterzare
עברית	הִשְׁלִישׁ hishlísh

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Cite this

MLA

"third." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/third. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

third. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/third

Chicago

"third." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/third.

BibTeX

@misc{third_2026,
  title = {third},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/third},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}