[syn: third, 3rd, tertiary]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Tertiary \Ter"ti*a*ry\, a. [L. tertiarius containing a third
part, fr. tertius third: cf. F. tertiaire. See Tierce.]
1. Being of the third formation, order, or rank; third; as, a
tertiary use of a word. --Trench.
[1913 Webster]
2. (Chem.) Possessing some quality in the third degree;
having been subjected to the substitution of three atoms
or radicals; as, a tertiary alcohol, amine, or salt. Cf.
Primary, and Secondary.
[1913 Webster]
3. (Geol.) Later than, or subsequent to, the Secondary.
[1913 Webster]
4. (Zool.) Growing on the innermost joint of a bird's wing;
tertial; -- said of quills.
[1913 Webster]
Tertiary age. (Geol.) See under Age, 8.
Tertiary color, a color produced by the mixture of two
secondaries. "The so-called tertiary colors are citrine,
russet, and olive." --Fairholt.
Tertiary period. (Geol.)
(a) The first period of the age of mammals, or of the
Cenozoic era.
(b) The rock formation of that period; -- called also
Tertiary formation. See the Chart of Geology.
Tertiary syphilis (Med.), the third and last stage of
syphilis, in which it invades the bones and internal
organs.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Tertiary \Ter"ti*a*ry\, n.; pl. Tertiaries.
1. (R. C. Ch.) A member of the Third Order in any monastic
system; as, the Franciscan tertiaries; the Dominican
tertiaries; the Carmelite tertiaries. See Third Order,
under Third. --Addis & Arnold.
[1913 Webster]
2. (Geol.) The Tertiary era, period, or formation.
[1913 Webster]
3. (Zool.) One of the quill feathers which are borne upon the
basal joint of the wing of a bird. See Illust. of Bird.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
tertiary
adj 1: coming next after the second and just before the fourth
in position [syn: third, 3rd, tertiary]
n 1: from 63 million to 2 million years ago [syn: Tertiary,
Tertiary period]
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
40 Moby Thesaurus words for "tertiary":
Maxwell triangle, Munsell scale, chromatic circle,
chromatic spectrum, chromaticity diagram, color circle,
color cycle, color index, color mixture curve, color solid,
color spectrum, color system, color triangle, complementary color,
covert, demitint, feather, feathers, full color,
fundamental colors, hackle, half tint, halftone, hue cycle, mail,
metamer, monochrome, plumage, primary, primary color, pure color,
secondary, secondary color, solar spectrum, spectral color,
spectrum, spectrum color, speculum, tertiary color, third