tertius

Latin

Latin ordinal numbers

<  2nd	3rd	4th  >
Cardinal : tres     Ordinal : tertius     Adverbial : ter     Multiplier : triplex     Distributive : ternī

Etymology

From trēs (“three”), originally from Proto-Indo-European *tréyes.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈter.ti.us/, [ˈt̪ɛrt̪iʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈter.t͡si.us/, [ˈt̪ɛrt̪͡s̪ius]

Numeral

tertius (feminine tertia, neuter tertium); first/second-declension numeral

1. third, the ordinal number after secundus (“second”) and before quartus (“fourth”)

   • For quotations using this term, see Citations:tertius.

Usage notes

• In poetical sense it is used for the Roman "Third World", that is the "Underworld", of Pluto

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

Number	Singular				Plural
Case / Gender	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter		Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	tertius	tertia	tertium		tertiī	tertiae	tertia
Genitive	tertiī	tertiae	tertiī		tertiōrum	tertiārum	tertiōrum
Dative	tertiō		tertiō		tertiīs
Accusative	tertium	tertiam	tertium		tertiōs	tertiās	tertia
Ablative	tertiō	tertiā	tertiō		tertiīs
Vocative	tertie	tertia	tertium		tertiī	tertiae	tertia

Derived terms

• tertiārius
• tertiō

Descendants

• French: tiers
• Galician: terzo
• Italian: terzo
• Ladin: terz
• Portuguese: terço, tércio

• Romanian: terț, terțiu
• Sicilian: terzu, tezzu
• Spanish: tercio
• Venetian: terso, terço

References

• “tertius”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “tertius”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• tertius in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• tertius in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • it is the third hour (= 9 A.M.: tertia hora est
    
  • I am in my thirteenth year: tertium decimum annum ago
    
  • to be middle-aged (i.e. between thirty and forty): tertiam iam aetatem videre
    
  • to admit another into the circle of one's intimates: aliquem (tertium) ad (in) amicitiam ascribere
    
  • the actor who plays the leading part: actor primarum (secundarum, tertiarum) partium
    
  • consul for the second, third time: iterum, tertium consul