drei

See also: Drei and Dréi

Translingual

Etymology

Borrowed from German drei (“three”).

Noun

drei

1. (chess) Spoken by a player during a match with one or more visually impaired players to indicate the third rank in algebraic notation.

References

• FIDE Laws of Chess 2023

Bavarian

Bavarian numbers ^(edit)

[a], [b] ←  2	3	4  → [a], [b]
Cardinal: drei

Alternative forms

• droi (South Central Bavarian)

Etymology

From Middle High German drī, from Old High German drī, from Proto-West Germanic *þrīʀ, from Proto-Germanic *þrīz, from Proto-Indo-European *tréyes.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /d̥rɑɛ̯/

  • Audio:

    (file)

• IPA^(key): /d̥ræː/ (East Central, Vienna)

Numeral

drei

1. three

Central Franconian

Etymology

Inherited from Middle High German drī, from Old High German dri, from Proto-West Germanic *þrīʀ, from Proto-Germanic *þrīz, from Proto-Indo-European *tréyes.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dʀei̯/ (Ripuarian)
  • In proper pronunciation, Ripuarian drei does not rhyme with zwei /tsʋɛi̯/, but younger speakers may merge these diphthongs.
• IPA^(key): /dʀɛi̯/, /dʀʌi̯/ (Moselle Franconian)

Numeral

drei

1. (most dialects) three

Related terms

• dreimol
• dressig / dreißig
• drett

Descendants

• Hunsrik: drei
• Luxembourgish: dräi

German

German numbers ^(edit)

	30[a], [b]
←  2	3	4  →
Cardinal: drei     Ordinal: dritte     Sequence adverb: drittens     Ordinal abbreviation: 3.     Adverbial: dreimal     Adverbial abbreviation: 3-mal     Multiplier: dreifach     Multiplier abbreviation: 3-fach     Fractional: Drittel     Polygon: Dreieck     Polygon abbreviation: 3-Eck     Polygonal adjective: dreieckig     Polygonal adjective abbreviation: 3-eckig
German Wikipedia article on 3

Alternative forms

• drey (obsolete)
• Drei (when used substantively)

Etymology

From Middle High German and Old High German drī, from Proto-West Germanic *þrīʀ, from Proto-Germanic *þrīz, from Proto-Indo-European *tréyes. Compare Dutch drie, English three, Danish tre.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dʁaɪ̯/, [dʁaɪ̯]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪ̯

Numeral

drei

1. (cardinal number) three (numerical value represented by the Arabic numeral 3; or describing a set with three elements)
   • 1845, Carl von Holtei, Theater. In einem Bande, Breslau, page 370:

     Wenn also diese Küsse zu dem letzten
     Gerechnet werden, ist die Summe drei,
     Wie aller guten Dinge dreie sind.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Declension

• In adjectival use (that is, with a following noun):
  • Nominative, dative, and accusative are always uninflected.
  • The genitive case takes the form dreier if no article or pronoun is preceding: Vater dreier Kinder – “a father of three children”; but: der Vater der drei Kinder – “the father of the three children”. The form dreier is somewhat elevated; even in formal writing it is sometimes more natural to avoid it (Vater von drei Kindern).
• In substantival use (that is, without a following noun):
  • Nominative and accusative are uninflected in the contemporary standard language. The form dreie still exists in colloquial German, chiefly in eastern Germany.
  • The dative case may take the form dreien: Ich sprach mit dreien. – “I spoke with three (people).” This rule is usually observed in formal standard German; but when a specification in the genitive case (or with von) is following, the bare form is more common: Ich sprach mit drei der Zeugen. – “I spoke with three of the witnesses.” In colloquial German, dreien is never obligatory.

Coordinate terms

German cardinal numbers from 0 to 99

	—0	—1	—2	—3	—4	—5	—6	—7	—8	—9
0—	null	eins, (before a noun) ein	zwei	drei	vier	fünf	sechs	sieben	acht	neun
1—	zehn	elf	zwölf	dreizehn	vierzehn	fünfzehn	sechzehn	siebzehn	achtzehn	neunzehn
2—	zwanzig	einundzwanzig	zweiundzwanzig	dreiundzwanzig	vierundzwanzig	fünfundzwanzig	sechsundzwanzig	siebenundzwanzig	achtundzwanzig	neunundzwanzig
3—	Germany, Austria: dreißig Switzerland, Liechtenstein: dreissig	Germany, Austria: einunddreißig Switzerland, Liechtenstein: einunddreissig	Germany, Austria: zweiunddreißig Switzerland, Liechtenstein: zweiunddreissig	Germany, Austria: dreiunddreißig Switzerland, Liechtenstein: dreiunddreissig	Germany, Austria: vierunddreißig Switzerland, Liechtenstein: vierunddreissig	Germany, Austria: fünfunddreißig Switzerland, Liechtenstein: fünfunddreissig	Germany, Austria: sechsunddreißig Switzerland, Liechtenstein: sechsunddreissig	Germany, Austria: siebenunddreißig Switzerland, Liechtenstein: siebenunddreissig	Germany, Austria: achtunddreißig Switzerland, Liechtenstein: achtunddreissig	Germany, Austria: neununddreißig Switzerland, Liechtenstein: neununddreissig
4—	vierzig	einundvierzig	zweiundvierzig	dreiundvierzig	vierundvierzig	fünfundvierzig	sechsundvierzig	siebenundvierzig	achtundvierzig	neunundvierzig
5—	fünfzig	einundfünfzig	zweiundfünfzig	dreiundfünfzig	vierundfünfzig	fünfundfünfzig	sechsundfünfzig	siebenundfünfzig	achtundfünfzig	neunundfünfzig
6—	sechzig	einundsechzig	zweiundsechzig	dreiundsechzig	vierundsechzig	fünfundsechzig	sechsundsechzig	siebenundsechzig	achtundsechzig	neunundsechzig
7—	siebzig	einundsiebzig	zweiundsiebzig	dreiundsiebzig	vierundsiebzig	fünfundsiebzig	sechsundsiebzig	siebenundsiebzig	achtundsiebzig	neunundsiebzig
8—	achtzig	einundachtzig	zweiundachtzig	dreiundachtzig	vierundachtzig	fünfundachtzig	sechsundachtzig	siebenundachtzig	achtundachtzig	neunundachtzig
9—	neunzig	einundneunzig	zweiundneunzig	dreiundneunzig	vierundneunzig	fünfundneunzig	sechsundneunzig	siebenundneunzig	achtundneunzig	neunundneunzig

German cardinal numbers from 100 onward

• 100: hundert, einhundert
• 10³: tausend, eintausend
• 10⁴: zehntausend (Myriade)
• 10⁶: Million (tausendmaltausend, tausendtausend)
• 10⁹: Milliarde
• 10¹²: Billion
• 10¹⁵: Billiarde
• 10¹⁸: Trillion
• 10²¹: Trilliarde
• 10²⁴: Quadrillion
• 10²⁷: Quadrilliarde
• 10³⁰: Quintillion
• 10³³: Quintilliarde
• 10³⁶: Sextillion
• 10³⁹: Sextilliarde
• 10⁴²: Septillion
• 10⁴⁵: Septilliarde
• 10⁴⁸: Oktillion
• 10⁵¹: Oktilliarde
• 10⁵⁴: Nonillion
• 10⁵⁷: Nonilliarde
• 10⁶⁰: Dezillion
• 10⁶³: Dezilliarde
• 10⁶⁶: Undezillion
• 10⁶⁹: Undezilliarde
• 10⁷²: Duodezillion
• 10⁷⁵: Duodezilliarde
• 10⁷⁸: Tredezillion
• 10⁸¹: Tredezilliarde
• 10⁸⁴: Quattuordezillion
• 10⁸⁷: Quattuordezilliarde
• 10⁹⁰: Quindezillion
• 10⁹³: Quindezilliarde
• 10⁹⁶: Sexdezillion
• 10⁹⁹: Sexdezilliarde
• 10¹⁰⁰: Googol
• …
• 10¹²⁰: Vigintillion
• 10¹²³: Vigintilliarde
• …

Derived terms

• Drei
• dreiarmig
• dreibeinig
• dreiblättrig
• Dreieck (dreieckig)
• Dreieinigkeit
• Dreier
• Dreierbündnis
• dreierlei
• Dreiertakt
• dreifach (Dreifachturnhalle)
• dreifaltig (Dreifaltigkeit)
• dreifarben
• dreifarbig
• dreifüßig
• Dreiheit
• dreijährig
• Dreikampf
• Dreikäsehoch
• Dreiklang
• Dreikönigsfest
• Dreilaut
• Dreimaster (dreimastig)
• dreimotorig
• dreiprozentig
• Dreirad
• Dreisatz
• dreiseitig
• dreisilbig
• Dreisprung
• dreißig
• dreistellig
• Dreisternehotel
• dreistufig
• dreitägig
• dreiteilig
• dreiwöchig, dreiwöchentlich
• Dreizack (dreizackig)
• dreizehn
• halbdrei
• verdreifachen (Verdreifachung)

Further reading

• “drei” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “drei” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
• “drei” in Duden online
• drei on the German Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^de

German Low German

Alternative forms

• dree (some dialects)

Etymology

From Middle Low German drê, drî, drie, from Old Saxon thrīe, from Proto-West Germanic *þrīʀ, from Proto-Germanic *þrīz, from Proto-Indo-European *tréyes.

Ultimately cognate to German drei, Dutch drie, English three, Plautdietsch dree.

Numeral

drei

1. (Low Prussian, Münsterland) three (3)

See also

• (Münsterländisch) twee (“two”); veer (“four”); fyv; seß; ; ; niegen; tein (“ten”); twintig (“twenty”); hundert; duusend — eerste (“first”); tweede; diädde; veerde

Hunsrik

Hunsrik numbers ^(edit)

	30
←  2	3	4  →
Cardinal: drei     Ordinal: dritt

Etymology

Inherited from Central Franconian drei, from Middle High German drī, from Old High German dri, from Proto-West Germanic *þrīʀ, from Proto-Germanic *þrīz, from Proto-Indo-European *tréyes.

Cognate with German drei and Luxembourgish dräi.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtraɪ̯/
• Rhymes: -aɪ̯
• Syllabification: drei

Numeral

drei

1. three

   Meer hon drei Kinner.

   We have three children.

Related terms

• Dreieck
• dreieckich
• Dreiraat

Middle English

Etymology 1

Adjective

drei

1. alternative form of drye

Etymology 2

Noun

drei

1. alternative form of dregh

North Frisian

Alternative forms

• draie (Mooring)
• drai (Sylt)

Etymology

From Middle Low German dreien, from Proto-West Germanic *þrāan. Doublet of trä (“to twist a rope”).

Pronunciation

• (Föhr-Amrum) IPA^(key): [draɪ̯]

Verb

drei

1. (Föhr-Amrum) to turn

Conjugation

Conjugation of drei (Föhr-Amrum dialect)

infinitive I	drei
infinitive II	(tu) dreien
past participle	dreid
imperative singular	drei
imperative plural	drei’m
	present	past
1st singular	drei	dreid
2nd singular	dreist	dreidst
3rd singular	dreit	dreid
plural	drei	dreid
	perfect	pluperfect
1st singular	haa dreid	hed dreid
2nd singular	heest dreid	hedst dreid
3rd singular	hee dreid	hed dreid
plural	haa dreid	hed dreid
	future (skel)	future (wel)
1st singular	skal drei	wal drei
2nd singular	skääl drei	wääl drei
3rd singular	skal drei	wal drei
plural	skel drei	wel drei

Norwegian Bokmål

Verb

drei

1. imperative of dreie

Pennsylvania German

Pennsylvania German cardinal numbers

<  2	3	4  >
Cardinal : drei     Ordinal : dritt

Etymology

From Middle High German and Old High German drī. Compare German drei, Dutch drie, English three.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /draɪ̯/

Numeral

drei

1. three

Rade

Etymology

From Proto-Chamic *drɛy, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *hadiʀi, from Proto-Austronesian *Sadiʀi.

Pronoun

drei

1. we (inclusive)

Classifier

drei

1. classifier for animals

References

• James A. Tharp; Y-Bhăm Ƀuôn-yǎ (1980), A Rhade-English Dictionary with English-Rhade Finderlist (Pacific Linguistics. Series C-58)‎^[1], Canberra: Pacific Linguistics, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, The Australian National University, →ISBN, archived from the original on 1 November 2021, page 26

Sranan Tongo

Etymology

From English dry.

Adjective

drei

1. dry

Derived terms

• dreisabana (“desert”)
• dreiwatra (“thirst”)