three

Translingual

Signal flag for the digit 3

Alternative forms

• Three, THREE

Etymology

Borrowed from English three.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈtri], like tree

Noun

three

1. (international standards) NATO & ICAO radiotelephony clear code (spelling-alphabet name) for the digit 3.

   Synonym: terrathree (ITU/IMO)

ICAO/NATO radiotelephonic clear codes

code	Alfa	Bravo	Charlie	Delta	Echo	Foxtrot	Golf	Hotel	India	Juliett	Kilo	Lima	Mike
	November	Oscar	Papa	Quebec	Romeo	Sierra	Tango	Uniform	Victor	Whiskey	Xray	Yankee	Zulu
	zero	one	two	three (tree)	four (fower)	five (fife)	six	seven	eight	nine (niner)	hundred	thousand	decimal

ICAO/NATO vs ITU/IMO radiotelephonic clear codes for digits

ICAO/NATO	zero	one	two	three (tree)	four (fower)	five (fife)	six	seven	eight	nine (niner)
ITU/IMO	nadazero	unaone	bissotwo	terrathree	kartefour	pantafive	soxisix	setteseven	oktoeight	novenine

English

English numbers ^(edit)

	30
←  2	3	4  →
Cardinal: three     Ordinal: third     Latinate ordinal: tertiary     Reverse order ordinal: third to last, third from last, last but two     Latinate reverse order ordinal: antepenultimate     Adverbial: three times, thrice     Multiplier: threefold     Latinate multiplier: triple     Distributive: triply     Germanic collective: trio, threesome     Collective of n parts: triplet     Greek or Latinate collective: triad     Greek collective prefix: tri-     Latinate collective prefix: tri-     Fractional: third     Elemental: triplet     Greek prefix: trito-     Number of musicians: trio, triplet     Number of years: triennium

Alternative forms

• thre, threy, thrie (all obsolete)

Etymology

PIE word
*tréyes

From Middle English thre, threo, thrie, thri, from Old English þrī, from Proto-West Germanic *þrīʀ, from Proto-Germanic *þrīz, from Proto-Indo-European *tréyes. Doublet of tres and trey.

Cognate with German drei, Albanian tre, Armenian երեք (erekʻ), Latin trēs, Latvian trīs, Lithuanian trỹs, Greek τρεῖς (treîs), Old Church Slavonic трьѥ (trĭje), and others.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: thrē IPA^(key): /θɹiː/, [θɾ̪̊iː], [θɾ̪̊ɪi], [θɹ̥ɪi]
• (UK, th-fronting) enPR: frē IPA^(key): /fɹiː/
• (Ireland) IPA^(key): /θɹiː/, [θɾ̪̊iː], [t̪ɾ̪̊iː]
• (General American) enPR: thrē IPA^(key): /θɹiː/, [θɾ̪̊i], [θɹ̥i], [θɹi]

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Homophones: tree (th-stopping); free (th-fronting)
• Rhymes: -iː

Numeral

three

1. A numerical value after two and before four. Represented in Arabic digits as 3; this many dots (•••).
   • 1912 January, Zane Grey, chapter 8, in Riders of the Purple Sage […], New York, N.Y., London: Harper & Brothers Publishers, →OCLC:

     Venters began to count them—one—two—three—four—on up to sixteen.

   • 2003 April 7, Michelle Lamoreaux, Robert Lamoreaux, “A Spy is Born Part II”, in Totally Spies!, season 2, episode 1, spoken by Clover (Jennifer Hale as Samantha “Sam” and Andrea Taylor), Marathon Media, via Teletoon:

     Okay, on three, we open the door and jump on the rope. One, two…
     Wait, wait! Do we go on three? Or do we go on “go”?
     Three! Who said anything about “go”?

   • 2011 October 18, Paul Dini, Paul Crocker, Sefton Hill, Batman: Arkham City, spoken by Joker thugs, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, via Rocksteady Studios:

     Why should she care? One…two…
     Do we shoot on three?
     Yes on three. Like one, two, three, shoot.

2. Describing a set or group with three elements.

Synonyms

• (numerical value): leash, tether (dialectal)

Related terms

• third, thrice, triple

Translations

cardinal number 3

• Aari: makkán
• Abaza: хпа (xpa)
• Abkhaz: хԥа (xpa), хҧа (xpa) (old spelling)
• Acehnese: lhèë
• Adyghe: щы (śə)
• Afrikaans: drie (af)
• Aghwan: 𐕀𐔼𐔱 (xib)
• Ainu: レ (re)
• Aiton: please add this translation if you can
• Akaha: tirai
• Akan: abiɛsa, abiesã
• Akkadian: 𒐈 (šalāšat)
• Aklanon: tatlo
• Albanian: tre (sq) m, tri (sq) f
• Aleut:

  Atka: qankus

  Attu: qankun

  Eastern: qaankun

• Alutiiq: pingayun
• American Sign Language: , 𝠞
• Amharic: ሦስት (am) (śost), ሶስት (sost) (numeral: ፫ (3))
• Andi: лъобгу (lˢobgu)
• Arabic: ثَلَاثَة (ar) (ṯalāṯa) (numeral: ٣ (3))

  Egyptian: تلاتة (talāta)

  Hijazi Arabic: ثلاثة f (talāta)

  Moroccan Arabic: تلاتة (tlāta)

• Aragonese: tres
• Aramaic:

  Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܬܠܵܬܵܐ m (tlātā), ܬܠܵܬ f (tlāt)

  Jewish Babylonian Aramaic: תְּלָתָא m (təlāṯā), תְּלַת f (təlaṯ)

  Syriac: ܬܠܬܐ m (təlāṯā), ܬܠܬ f (təlāṯ)

  Western Neo-Aramaic: ܬܠܬܐ m (ṯloṯa), ܐܬܠܬ f (ʾeṯlaṯ)

• Archi: лъеб (lʰeb)
• Argobba: ሶአስተ (sost)
• Armenian: երեք (hy) (erekʻ)
• Aromanian: trei (roa-rup)
• Asháninka: mawa
• Assamese: তিনি (tini) (numeral: ৩)
• Asturian: tres (ast), trés (ast)
• Avar: лъабго (lˢabgo)
• Aymara: kimsa (ay)
• Azerbaijani: üç (az)
• Banjarese: talu (bjn)
• Bashkir: өс (ös)
• Basque: hiru (eu)
• Bassa: tã
• Bay Miwok: teleeka
• Belarusian: тры (be) (try), (collective) тро́е (tróje), тро́йка f (trójka)
• Bengali: তিন (bn) (tin) (numeral: ৩)
• Bhojpuri: तीन (tīn)
• Big Nambas: itl
• Bikol Central: tulo (bcl)
• Bislama: tri
• Bookan: tiga
• Brahui: musiŧ
• Breton: tri (br) m, teir (br) f
• Brunei Malay: tiga
• Budukh: шуб (šub), шубуд (šubud)
• Buginese: tellu
• Bulgarian: три (bg) (tri)
• Burmese: သုံး (my) (sum:) (numeral: ၃ (my) (3))
• Buryat: гурбан (gurban)
• Cahuilla: páh
• Carpathian Rusyn: три (try)
• Catalan: tres (ca)
• Cebuano: tulo
• Cèmuhî: cié
• Central Atlas Tamazight: ⴽⵕⴰⴹ (kṛaḍ)
• Central Dusun: tolu
• Central Sierra Miwok: toló·košu-
• Chakma: please add this translation if you can
• Cham:

  Eastern Cham: klau

  Western Cham: please add this translation if you can

• Chamicuro: kilko
• Chamorro: tres
• Champenois: tro
• Chechen: кхоъ (qoʔ)
• Chepang: सुम् (sum)
• Cherokee: ᏦᎢ (tsoi)
• Chichewa: tatu
• Chickasaw: tochchí'na
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 三 (yue) (saam¹)

  Dungan: сан (san)

  Eastern Min: 三 (săng)

  Hakka: 三 (sāng)

  Hokkien: (Xiamen) 三 (zh-min-nan) (sā̃, sām)

  Mandarin: 三 (zh) (sān) (numeral: 參／参 (zh))

  Teochew: 三 (sam¹)

  Wu: 三

• Chinook Jargon: ɬun
• Chukchi: ӈыроӄ (ŋəroq)
• Chuukese: unungat, unuchö, unumön
• Chuvash: виҫӗ (viś̬ĕ), виҫҫӗ (viśśĕ)
• Classical Nahuatl: ēyi
• Cornish: tri m, teyr f
• Corsican: trè (co)
• Cowlitz: kaʔłiʔ
• Cree: nisto
• Crimean Tatar: üç
• Czech: tři (cs), (collective) troje (cs)
• Dalmatian: tra
• Danish: tre (da)
• Defaka: táátó
• Dena'ina: tuq'i
• Dhivehi: ތިން (tin̊)
• Dinka: diäk
• Dolgan: үс (üs)
• Drung: vseum
• Dutch: drie (nl)
• Dzongkha: གསུམ (gsum)
• Edo: èhá
• Elfdalian: tri
• Enga: tema
• Erzya: колмо (kolmo)
• Esperanto: tri (eo)
• Estonian: kolm (et)
• Even: илан (ilan)
• Evenki: илан (ilan)
• Ewe: etɔ̃
• Extremaduran: tres
• Faroese: tríggir m, tríggjar f, trý (fo) n, trinnir m (distributive number)
• Fataluku: utue
• Fijian: tolu (fj)
• Finnish: kolme (fi)
• Forest Enets: нэху
• Forest Nenets: няхаԓ (nyaxał)
• French: trois (fr)
• Friulian: trê
• Ga: etɛ̃, etɛ
• Gagauz: üç
• Galician: tres (gl)
• Garifuna: ürüwa
• Ge'ez: ሠለስቱ m (śälästu), ሠላስ f (śälas) (numeral: ፫ (3))
• Georgian: სამი (ka) (sami)
• German: drei (de)
• Gilaki: سه (se)
• Gilbertese: tenua
• Gothic: 𐌸𐍂𐌴𐌹𐍃 (þreis)
• Greek: τρία (el) (tría), γ΄ (numeral)

  Ancient: τρεῖς (treîs), γ΄ (numeral)

• Greenlandic: pingasut (kl)
• Guaraní: mbohapy
• Gujarati: ત્રણ (gu) (traṇ)
• Hadza: samaka and inflections
• Haitian Creole: twa
• Hausa: ukù (ha)
• Hawaiian: kolu, ʻekolu
• Hebrew: שָׁלוֹשׁ (he) f (shalosh) (used in counting), שְׁלוֹשָׁה m (shlosha)
• Higaonon: tatulo
• Hiligaynon: tatlo
• Hindi: तीन (hi) (tīn) (numeral: ३ (hi) (3)), त्रि (hi) (tri)
• Hiri Motu: toi
• Hlai: fus
• Hopi: pàayoʼ
• Hungarian: három (hu)
• Hunsrik: drei
• Ibani: tɛ́rɛ́
• Icelandic: þrír (is) m, þrjár (is) f, þrjú (is) n
• Icelandic Sign Language: 3@Side-PalmBackFingerUp
• Ido: tri (io)
• Ifè: mɛ́ɛta
• Igala: ẹ̀ta
• Igbo: atọ (ig)
• Ilocano: tallo
• Indonesian: tiga (id)
• Ingrian: kolt
• Ingush: кхоъ (qoʔ)
• Interlingua: tres (ia)
• Iquito: sɨɨsaramajɨtáami
• Iranun: talu, telu
• Irish: trí (ga)

  Old Irish: trí

• Isnag: tallo
• Istriot: trì
• Istro-Romanian: trei
• Italian: tre (it)
• Itelmen: ч’оӄ (č’oq)
• Itsekiri: mẹ́ẹta
• Izon: táarụ́ (counting), tára (qualifying)
• Japanese: 三 (ja) (san), 三つ (ja) (mittsu), スリー (ja) (surī)
• Jarai: klâo
• Javanese: telu (jv)
• Jeju: 싯 (sit), 시 (si) (determiner), 삼 (sam) (Sino-Korean)
• Kabardian: щы (kbd) (śə)
• Kabuverdianu: tres
• Kalmyk: һурвн (ğurvn)
• Kannada: ಮೂರು (kn) (mūru): (numeral: ೩ (kn) (3))
• Kanuri: yaske
• Kapampangan: atlu
• Karachay-Balkar: юч (üç)
• Karaim: üč
• Karakhanid: اُجْ (üč)
• Karelian: kolme
• Kashubian: trzë
• Kaurna: marnkutyi
• Kazakh: үш (kk) (üş)
• Khakas: ӱс (üs)
• Khmer: បី (km) (bəy) (numeral: ៣ (3))
• Kinaray-a: tatlo
• Kirike: tɛ́rɛ́
• Kokborok: tham
• Komi-Permyak: куим (kuim)
• Komi-Zyrian: куим (kuim)
• Kongo: tatu
• Korean: 셋 (ko) (set), 세 (ko) (se) (determiner), 석 (ko) (seok), 삼(三) (ko) (sam), 쓰리 (sseuri)
• Koryak: ӈыёӄ (ŋəjoq)
• Kumyk: уьч (üç)
• Kuna: pa
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: سێ (sê)

  Northern Kurdish: sê (ku)

• Kyrgyz: үч (ky) (üc)
• Ladakhi: གསུམ (gsum)
• Lakota: yámni
• Lao: ສາມ (sām) (numeral: ໓ (3))
• Latgalian: treis pl
• Latin: trēs (la) m or f, tria (la) n
• Latvian: trīs (lv)
• Lezgi: пуд (pud)
• Ligurian: tréi m, træ f
• Lingala: mísáto
• Lithuanian: trys (lt) m, trys (lt) f
• Livonian: kuolm
• Lombard: tri m, tre f
• Louisiana Creole French: trò, trwa
• Low German:

  Dutch Low Saxon: drij (Gronings), drèje (Gronings)

  German Low German: drei (nds), dree (nds)

• Lycian: 𐊗𐊕𐊁𐊆 (trei)
• Lü: ᦉᦱᧄ (ṡaam) (numeral: ᧓)
• Lucumí: meta
• Luo: adek
• Lushootseed: łixw
• Luxembourgish: dräi (lb)
• Macedonian: три (mk) (tri)
• Madurese: telloʔ
• Maguindanao: telu
• Makasar: tallu
• Malagasy: telo (mg)
• Malay:

  Jawi: تيݢ (ms), تلو, تري

  Rumi: tiga (ms), telu (ms), tri

• Malayalam: മൂന്നു (mūnnu), മൂന്ന് (ml) (mūnnŭ) (numeral: ൩)
• Maltese: tlieta (mt)
• Manchu: ᡳᠯᠠᠨ (ilan)
• Mangarevan: toru
• Mansaka: toro
• Manx: three, tree
• Maori: toru (mi)
• Maranao: telo
• Marathi: तीन (tīn)
• Mari:

  Eastern Mari: кумыт (kumyt)

• Maricopa: xamok, hmuk
• Marshallese: jilu
• Mauritian Creole: trwa
• Mazanderani: سه (se)
• Megleno-Romanian: trei
• Middle English: thre
• Minangkabau: tigo
• Mirandese: trés
• Mizo: pa-thum
• Mòcheno: drai
• Mon: ပိ (mnw)
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: гурав (mn) (gurav)

  Mongolian: ᠭᠤᠷᠪᠠ (ɣurba), ᠓ (3) (numeral)

• Montagnais: nishtᵘ
• Motu: toi
• Mudburra: murrkuna
• Muong: pà
• Muyang: mahkər
• Nama: ǃnona
• Nauruan: aiju
• Navajo: tááʼ
• Negidal: елан, илан
• Nepali: तीन (ne) (tīna)
• Ngazidja Comorian: -raru
• Nigerian Pidgin: tre
• Niuean: tolu
• Nivkh: тяӄр̌ (țaqř)
• Nogai: уьш (üş)
• Norman: trais
• North Frisian:

  Föhr-Amrum: trii

  Helgoland: tree

  Mooring: tra m, trii f or n

  Sylt: trii

• Northern Khanty: хәԯум (həłum) (Kazym)
• Northern Mansi: ^{(please verify)} хурум (hurum)
• Northern Ohlone: kaphan
• Northern Thai: ᩈᩣ᩠ᨾ
• Northern Yukaghir: йалуонь (jaluoņ)
• Norwegian: tre (no), tri (no)
• Nuosu: ꌕ (suo)
• O'odham: vaik
• Occitan: tres (oc)
• Odia: ତିନି (or) (tini) (numeral: ୩ (3))
• Ojibwe: niswi
• Okinawan: 三 (san), 三ち (mīchi), 三 (みー, mī) (counting)
• Okordia: táárʊ́
• Old Church Slavonic: триѥ (trije), трьѥ (trĭje), три (tri) (numeral: г҃)
• Old English: þrī
• Old Frisian: thrē, thriā, thriū
• Old Javanese: tĕlu, tiga
• Old Turkic: 𐰇𐰲 (üč /⁠üč⁠/)
• Olukumi: ẹ̀ta, mẹ́ta
• Oromo: sadii
• Oscan: 𐌕𐌓𐌝𐌔 (trís)
• Ossetian: ӕртӕ (ærtæ)
• Ottoman Turkish: اوچ (üç)
• Paicî: êrêcié
• Papiamentu: tres
• Pashto: درې (ps) (dre)
• Pennsylvania German: drei
• Persian: سه (fa) (se), سو (fa) (so) (dialectal), (numeral: ۳)
• Piedmontese: tre
• Pijin: tri
• Pipil: yey
• Polish: trzy (pl) pl, (collective) troje (pl), trójka (pl) f
• Portuguese: três (pt)
• Proto-Norse: ᚦᚱᛁᛃᛟᛉ f pl (þrijoʀ)
• Punjabi:

  Gurmukhi: ਤਿੰਨ (tinn) (numeral: ੩ (3))

  Shahmukhi: تِنّ (tinn), تْرَے (trai) (Pakistan) (numeral: ۳ (3))

• Purepecha: tanimu
• Quechua: kimsa (qu), kinsa
• Rapa Nui: ka toru
• Rarotongan: toru
• Rawang: shø̀m
• Rohingya: tin
• Romagnol: tri m
• Romani: trin

  Kalo Finnish Romani: triin

• Romanian: trei (ro)
• Romansch: trais
• Russian: три (ru) (tri), тро́е (ru) (tróje) (collective), тро́йка (ru) f (trójka)
• S'gaw Karen: သၢ (thuh)
• Saho: adox
• Sami:

  Inari: kulmâ

  Northern: golbma

  Skolt: koumm

  Southern: golme

• Samoan: tolu (sm)
• Sanskrit: त्रि (sa) (tri), त्रयं (trayaṃ)
• Santali: ᱯᱮ (pe)
• Sarcee: táyk'í
• Sardinian:

  Campidanese: tresi

  Logudorese: tres

• Saterland Frisian: tjo
• Scots: three
• Scottish Gaelic: trì, triùir m
• Semai: tige
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: три̑

  Roman: trȋ

• Shan: သၢမ် (shn) (sǎam) (numeral: ႓)
• Sherpa: གསུམ (gsum)
• Shor: ӱш (üş)
• Sicilian: tri (scn)
• Sidamo: sase
• Sikkimese: སུམ (sum)
• Sindhi: ٽي (sd) (ti)
• Sinhalese: තුන (si) (tuna)
• Slovak: tri (sk), traja
• Slovene: tríje, (when counting) trí (sl)
• Slovincian: trzë
• Somali: saddex (so)
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: tśi

  Upper Sorbian: třo m, tři f or n

• Southern Altai: ӱч (üč)
• Southern Ohlone: capjan
• Spanish: tres (es)
• Sranan Tongo: dri
• Sumerian: 𒁹𒁹𒁹 (eš5)
• Sundanese: tilu (su)
• Swahili: tatu (sw)
• Swazi: tsatfu
• Swedish: tre (sv)
• Sylheti: ꠔꠤꠘ (tin)
• Tabasaran: шубуб (šubub)
• Tagalog: tatlo (tl)
• Tahitian: toru
• Tai Dam: ꪎꪱꪣ
• Tai Laing: ꩬꩼၢမ်
• Tai Nüa: ᥔᥣᥛᥴ (sáam)
• Tajik: се (tg) (se)
• Tal: ƙún
• Talysh: se, سه (se) (Asalemi)
• Tamil: மூன்று (ta) (mūṉṟu) (numeral: ௩ (ta))
• Tangut: 𘕕 (*sọ¹)
• Taos: póyuo
• Tarantino: tréde
• Tashelhit: krad m, krat f
• Tat: sə
• Tatar: өч (tt) (öç)
• Tausug: tū
• Tedim Chin: thum
• Telugu: మూడు (te) (mūḍu) (numeral: ౩ (te) (3))
• Ternate: raange
• Tetum: tolu
• Thai: สาม (th) (sǎam) (numeral: ๓ (th) (3))
• Tibetan: གསུམ (gsum) (numeral: ༣ (3))
• Tidore: raange
• Tigre: ሰለስ (säläs) (numeral: ፫ (3))
• Tigrinya: ሰለስተ (sälästä) (numeral: ፫ (3))
• Tlingit: nás’k, nás’gináx̱
• Toba Batak: tolu
• Tocharian A: tre
• Tocharian B: trai, trey
• Tok Pisin: tripela (tpi)
• Tooro: -satu, isatu (abstract counting)
• Tumbuka: tatu
• Tupinambá: mosapyr
• Turkish: üç (tr)
• Turkmen: üç (tk)
• Tuvaluan: tolu
• Tuvan: үш (üş)
• Tz'utujil: oxi
• Udi: хиб (χib)
• Udmurt: куинь (kuiń)
• Ukrainian: три (uk) (try), (collective) тро́є (tróje), трі́йко (tríjko) colloquial, трі́єчко (tríječko) colloquial diminutive, трі́йка (uk) f (tríjka)
• Uldeme: màkàr
• Umbrian: 𐌕𐌓𐌉𐌚 (trif)
• Unami: naxa
• Urdu: تین m (tīn)
• Uyghur: ئۈچ (ug) (üch)
• Uzbek: uch (uz)
• Venetan: tre (vec), tri
• Veps: koume
• Vietnamese: ba (vi)
• Vilamovian: draj
• Volapük: kil (vo)
• Võro: kolm
• Votic: kõlmõd
• Wakhi: tru
• Walloon: troes (wa)
• Waray-Waray: bungto
• Welsh: tri (cy) m, tair (cy) f
• West Frisian: trije (fy)
• Western Apache: táági, tāāgi
• Western Bukidnon Manobo: tetelu
• White Hmong: peb
• Winnebago: taanį
• Wiradjuri: Bula Ngumbaay
• Wolof: ñett
• Xârâcùù: bachéé
• Xhosa: thathu
• Yagara: burla ganar
• Yagnobi: тирай (tiray)
• Yakan: tellu
• Yakut: үс (üs)
• Yámana: matan
• Yao: tatu
• Yiddish: דרײַ (dray)
• Yoruba: ẹ̀ta, ẹẹ́ta (counting form), mẹ́ta (adjectival)
• Yucatec Maya: óox
• Yup'ik: pingayun
• Ywom: kùn
• Zaghawa: we
• Zazaki: hirê (diq)
• Zealandic: drie, drieë (in counting)
• Zhuang: sam (Sawndip 三)
• Zou: thum
• Zulu: thathu
• Zuni: ha'i

describing set or group with three components

• Bashkir: өсәү (ösəw)
• Catalan: trio (ca) m
• Dutch: trits (nl) c
• French: trio (fr) m
• Italian: terna (it) f, trio (it) m
• Latgalian: treji m, trejis f
• Lithuanian: trejeri (lt) m, trejerios f
• Macedonian: тројка f (trojka)
• Polish: trójka (pl) f
• Romanian: triplu (ro) m or n, triplă f
• Russian: тро́йка (ru) f (trójka)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: тро́јка f

  Roman: trójka (sh) f

• Spanish: trío (es) m
• Walloon: troejhinne (wa) f

See also

• Table of cardinal numbers 0 to 9 in various languages

Noun

three (plural threes)

1. The digit/figure 3.
2. Anything measuring three units, as length.

   Put all the threes in a separate container.

3. A person who is three years old.

   All the threes will go in Mrs. Smith's class, while I'll take the fours and fives.

4. The playing card featuring three pips.
5. Three o'clock, either a.m. or p.m.
   • 1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “In which Three Investigators Come across a Dark Soul”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019:

     It was a weary time. A carriage clock had been placed on the discoloured wooden mantelpiece, and slowly its hands crept on from one to two and from two to three.

6. (basketball) Abbreviation of three-pointer.

Derived terms

• bad things come in threes
• big three
• clogs to clogs in three generations
• common three-ring
• couple three
• couple-three
• Eurasian three-toed woodpecker
• fish and company stink after three days
• good things come in threes
• grade three
• in three days
• less than three
• logo three
• match-three game
• meat and three
• me three
• northern three-toed jerboa
• number three
• one-two-three
• page three girl
• page-three girl
• phony as a three-dollar bill
• purple three-awn grass
• rising three
• rule of three
• shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations
• six and two threes
• Tate's three-striped dasyure
• thirteen
• Three Amigos
• three-and-out
• threeawn
• three-bagger
• three-ball
• three-banded courser
• three-banded grasshopper
• three-banded warbler
• three body problem
• three-bottle man
• Three Bridges
• three card brag
• three-card marney
• three-card monte
• three-card shuffle
• three-card trick
• three-card trickster
• three-center two-electron bond
• three cheers
• Three Cocks
• three-cornered
• three-cornered jack
• Three Crosses
• three-cueing
• three day eventing
• three-day fever
• three-day measles
• three days ago
• three day sickness
• three-day sickness
• three-decker
• three-dimensional
• three-dimensionality
• three-dimensionally
• three-dog night
• three dog night
• three eighths
• three-eighths
• three fifths
• three-fifths
• threefin
• three-finger salute
• three fires
• Threefish
• three-fisted
• threefold
• three-forked
• three fourths
• three-fourths
• three-four time
• three fries short of a Happy Meal
• three Fs
• three green
• three G's
• three guys in a garage
• three halfpence
• three halfpennies
• three-headed
• three-high
• three-horned
• three hots and a cot
• three hundred
• three-hundredth
• three-in-hand
• three-in-oneness
• threeish
• three kings' cake
• Three Kings Islands
• three L
• three-legged
• three-legged race
• three letter agency
• three-letter agency
• three-line whip
• threeling
• three-lips
• three marks of existence
• three-martini lunch
• three-men-in-a-boat
• three-milk cake
• three-minute warning
• three musketeers
• threenager
• three-name
• threeness
• Threeness
• Three Oaks
• three o'clock
• three-of-a-kind
• three of a kind
• three-on-the-tree
• three-parent
• three-party system
• three-peat
• threepeat
• threepence
• threepenny
• three per cents
• three-phase
• three-piece suit
• three-piece suite
• three-pile
• three-pipe problem
• threeplex
• three-ply
• three-point landing
• three-point line
• three-point shot
• three-point turn
• three poisons
• three-pronged
• three-quarter
• three-quarter back
• three-quarter bathroom
• three-quarter brother
• three-quarter coat
• three-quarters
• three quarters
• three-quarter sibling
• three-quarter sister
• three quarter-time
• three quartertime
• three-quarter-time
• three quarter time
• three-quarter time
• three-quartertime
• threequel
• three-revert rule
• three-ring
• three-ring circus
• three ring circus
• Three Rivers
• three Rs
• three R's
• threescore
• three score and fifth
• three score and ten
• three-second rule
• three seconds rule
• three-sheet
• three sheets
• three sheets in the wind
• three sheets to the wind
• threeside
• threesies
• three sisters
• three skips of a louse
• threesome
• three-space
• three-spined stickleback
• three-spine stickleback
• three-spot seahorse
• three-square
• three squares
• three stars
• three-step snake
• three stops short of Dagenham
• three strikes and you're out
• three-strikes law
• three-striped ground squirrel
• three-tap
• threeteen
• threeth
• three thousand
• three-tiered
• three-time loser
• three times a charm
• three time's a charm
• three times three
• three-toed box turtle
• three-toed sloth
• three-toed woodpecker
• three togethers
• three togethers
• three true outcomes
• three-up
• threevee
• three-vee
• threeven
• three-way
• threeway
• three-way girl
• three-way switch
• three-wheel
• three-wheeled
• three-wheeler
• three wise men
• thrinter
• throdd
• throuple
• thruppence
• two's company and three is none

 

Translations

digit/figure 3

• Amharic: ሶስት (sost), ሦስት (am) (śost)
• Armenian: երեք (hy) (erekʻ)
• Asturian: tres (ast) m
• Basque: hiru (eu)
• Belarusian: тро́йка f (trójka)
• Bikol Central: tulo (bcl)
• Catalan: tres (ca) m
• Cebuano: tulo
• Danish: tre (da)
• Dutch: drie (nl) f
• Finnish: kolmonen (fi)
• French: trois (fr) m
• Galician: tres (gl) m
• German: Drei (de) f

  Alemannic German: drüü

• Hebrew: שלוש (he) f (shalósh)
• Hindi: तीन (hi) m (tīn)
• Hungarian: hármas (hu)
• Ilocano: tallo
• Italian: tre (it)
• Japanese: san (ja) (san)
• Latin: tribus (la)
• Lithuanian: trejetas (lt) m
• Macedonian: тројка f (trojka)
• Pennsylvania German: drei
• Polish: trójka (pl) f
• Portuguese: três (pt) m
• Romanian: trei (ro) m
• Russian: тро́йка (ru) f (trójka)
• Scottish Gaelic: trì
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: тро́јка f

  Roman: trójka (sh) f

• Sindhi: ٽي (sd)
• Slovak: trojka (sk) f
• Slovene: trojka f
• Spanish: tres (es) m
• Swedish: trea (sv)
• Tagalog: tatlo (tl)
• Tamil: மூன்று (ta) (mūṉṟu)
• Tok Pisin: tri
• Ukrainian: трі́йка (uk) f (tríjka)
• Vietnamese: số ba

anything measuring three units

• Finnish: kolmonen (fi)
• Polish: trójka (pl) f

person who is three years old

• Finnish: kolmivuotias; kolmonen (fi) (colloquial)
• Polish: trzylatek (pl) m, trzylatka (pl) f
• Swedish: treåring (sv) c

playing card

• Finnish: kolmonen (fi)
• Hindi: तिक्की (hi) (tikkī)
• Polish: trójka (pl) f
• Swedish: trea (sv) c

basketball: abbreviation of three-pointer

• Finnish: kolmonen (fi)

See also

Playing cards in English · playing cards (layout · text)
ace	deuce, two	three	four	five	six	seven
eight	nine	ten	jack, knave	queen	king	joker

Symbols of number three in various numeral systems

• Amharic numerals: ፫
• Arabic numerals: 3
• Assyro-Babylonian numerals: 𒁹𒁹𒁹
• Bengali numerals: ৩
• Chinese numerals: 叄, 三
• Eastern Arabic numerals: ٣
• Gujarati numerals: ૩
• Gurmukhi numerals: ੩
• Hindi numerals: ३
• Kannada numerals: ೩
• Khmer numerals: ៣
• Lao numerals: ໓
• Limbu numerals: ᥉
• Malayalam numerals: ൩
• Mongolian numerals: ᠓
• Myanmar numerals: ၃
• Odia numerals: ୩
• Persian numerals: ۳
• Roman numerals: III
• Tamil numerals: ௩
• Telugu numerals: ౩
• Thai numerals: ๓
• Tibetan numerals: ༣

Anagrams

• Ehret, Ether, Reeth, ether, rethe, theer, there

Manx

Numeral

three

1. Alternative spelling of tree.

Scots

Scots numbers ^(edit)

←  2	3	4  →
Cardinal: three     Ordinal: third

Alternative forms

• (South Scots) threi, shrei, hrei

Etymology

From Middle English thre, from Old English þriē, þrī, þreō, from Proto-West Germanic *þrīʀ, from Proto-Germanic *þrīz, from Proto-Indo-European *tréyes.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /θriː/
• (Southern Scots) IPA^(key): /θrəi/
• (Shetland) IPA^(key): /triː/

Numeral

three

1. three

References

• “three, adj.”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC, retrieved 21 May 2024, reproduced from W[illiam] Grant and D[avid] D. Murison, editors, The Scottish National Dictionary, Edinburgh: Scottish National Dictionary Association, 1931–1976, →OCLC.
• “three, num.”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC, retrieved 21 May 2024, reproduced from William A[lexander] Craigie, A[dam] J[ack] Aitken [et al.], editors, A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue: […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 1931–2002, →OCLC.