tertiary
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈtɜː.ʃi.ə.ɹiː/
ipa: /ˈtɜː.ʃə.ɹiː/
ipa: /ˈtɜːʃ.ɹiː/
ipa: /ˈtɝ.ʃiˌɛɹ.i/
ipa: /ˈtɝ.ʃə.ɹi/
ipa: /ˈtɜː.ʃi.ə.ɹiː/
ipa: /ˈtɜː.ʃə.ɹiː/
ipa: /ˈtɜːʃ.ɹiː/
Etymology: PIE word
 *tréyes
Borrowed from the Latin tertiārius (“of the third part or rank”), from tertius (“third”) (from Proto-Indo-European *tr̥tyós, whence English third) + -ārius (whence the English suffix -ary); compare the French tertiaire.
Senses: examples: text: Beſides theſe primordial mountains, M. [P[eter] S[imon]] Pallas maintains, that there are others of a more recent origin. These he calls ſecondary and tertiary: […] the latter ariſe from the wrecks and contents of the ſea, raiſed and tranſported by volcanic eruptions and conſequent inundations.
ref: 1780, “Art. XIV. Observations sur la Formation des Montagnes et les Changemens arrivés au Globe, &c.—Observations on the Formation of Mountains, and the Changes and Revolutions which have taken place in our Globe; composed with a View to the Natural History of M. de Buffon. By P. S. Pallas, Member of the Academy of Petersburg, in 12mo. pp. 90. Price 24 Livres. Printed at Paris. 1779.”, in The Monthly Review; or, Literary Journal, volume LXI, London: Printed for R. Griffiths, and sold by T. Becket, corner of the Adelphi, Strand, →OCLC, page 550:
text: An untaught peasant beheld the elements around him and was acquainted with their practical uses. The most learned philosopher knew little more. He had partially unveiled the face of Nature, but her immortal lineaments were still a wonder and a mystery. He might dissect, anatomize, and give names; but, not to speak of a final cause, causes in their secondary and tertiary grades were utterly unknown to him.
ref: 1831, [Mary Shelley], chapter 2, in Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus (Standard Novels; no. 9), rev. and corr. edition, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, New Burlington Street; Edinburgh: Bell and Bradfute; Dublin: Cumming, →OCLC; republished as Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, New York, N.Y.: Bantam Books, November 1991, page 25
text: If artistic and industrial education, if Mechanics Institutions, Colleges, and all the establishments of secondary and tertiary education, are to be taken under Government management, the objections stated above would be greatly aggravated and multiplied.
ref: 1854 May, “Reviews and Literary Notices: Education, Best Promoted by Perfect Freedom, Not by State Endowments. With Official Returns of Education. By Edward Baines. 8vo. 47pp. John Snow.”, in The Wesleyan Methodist Association Magazine, volume XVII, London: Association Book-room, 5, Horseshoe Court, Ludgate Hill, →OCLC, page 231:
glosses: Of third rank or order; subsequent.
examples: text: a tertiary alcohol, amine, or salt
text: If, on the other hand, we remember that a tertiary monoamine, such as must be formed by the final methylation of the ammonia fragment in aniline when submitted to the action of an alcohol chloride, is invariably converted into an ammonium compound it must appear rather strange that in the process above alluded to only tertiary, and never any quartery bases are observed.
ref: 1873 January 3, A[ugust] W[ilhelm von] Hofmann, “Synthesis of Aromatic Monoamines by Intramolecular Atomic Interchange”, in William Crookes, editor, The Chemical News and Journal of Physical Science: A Journal of Practical Chemistry in All Its Applications to Pharmacy, Arts, and Manufactures, volume XXVII, number 684, London: Henry Gillman, Boy Court, Ludgate Hill, E.C., →OCLC, page 1, column 1:
topics: chemistry
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
glosses: Possessing some quality in the third degree; especially having been subjected to the substitution of three atoms or radicals.
examples: text: The primary, secondary, and tertiary wing feathers (remiges) of adult mourning doves are shed and replaced yearly in an orderly sequence, so flight is possible during molt. […] Little is known about the shedding sequence of the secondary or tertiary feathers or the related coverts. If it is similar to that of passerines, however, loss of the outermost tertiary feather occurs coincident with loss of the fifth or sixth primary[…]. The molt then would continue sequentially until the last or innermost tertiary was shed and replaced.
ref: 1993, Ralph E. Mirarchi, “Growth, Maturation, and Molt”, in Thomas S. Baskett, Mark W. Sayre, Roy E. Tomlinson, Ralph E. Mirarchi, editors, Ecology and Management of the Mourning Dove (Wildlife Management Institute Book), Harrisburg, Pa.: Stackpole Books, →ISBN, page 141:
topics: biology
natural-sciences
ornithology
glosses: Of quills: growing on the innermost joint of a bird's wing; tertial.
Synonyms: ternary
tertial
Coordinate terms: word: denary
word: duodenary
word: nonary
word: octonary
sense: Of third rank or order; subsequent.
word: primary
word: quaternary
word: quinary
sense: Possessing some quality in the third degree; especially having been subjected to the substitution of three atoms or radicals.
word: secondary
word: senary
word: septenary
word: vigenary
Derived terms: methyl tertiary butyl ether
nontertiary
pretertiary
tertiarily
tertiarization
tertiary alcohol
tertiary amine
tertiary amyl
tertiary butyl
tertiary butylhydroquinone
tertiary care
tertiary college
tertiary color
tertiary colour
tertiary education
tertiary explosive
tertiary healthcare
tertiary industry
tertiary-level education
tertiary phosphine
tertiary planet
tertiary sector
tertiary source
tertiary structure
tertiary student
tertiary work
Related terms: tertian
cubic