English Explanatory Dictionary

triad

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A grouping of three.
  2. A romantic or sexual relationship between three individuals; a throuple.
  3. A word of three syllables.
  4. A branch of a Chinese underground criminal society, mostly based in Hong Kong.
  5. On a CRT display, a group of three neighbouring phosphor dots, coloured green, red, and blue.
  6. A chord consisting of a root tone, the tone two degrees higher, and the tone four degrees higher in a given scale OR any chord with three notes.

Pronunciation

/ˈtɹaɪ.æd/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-triad.wav

Word forms

triad triads

Etymology

PIE word *tréyes From Latin triad-, stem of trias (“three, triad”), from Ancient Greek τριάς (triás). By surface analysis, tri- + -ad. Sense 3 (“branch of a Chinese underground criminal society”) is due to the word being applied by the British authorities to underground society in Hong Kong based on the geometry of the Chinese character, derived from a name used by some of those societies, 三合會 /三合会 (sānhéhuì, “Three Harmonies Society”), referring to the union between heaven, earth, and humanity.

Synonyms

threesome trine trinity trio triplet troika triumvirate tern ternary ternion threeness triad trinary trisyllable

Related words

mafia tong yakuza

Derived words

augmented triad Beck's cognitive triad Beck's triad Charcot's cholangitis triad Charcot's neurologic triad Charcot's triad Currarino triad dark triad diminished triad iron triad Macdonald triad major triad Mediterranean triad Meltzer's triad minor triad Murphy's triad nuclear triad Osler's triad perfect triad portal triad trauma triad of death triadic unhappy triad Virchow's triad V triad

Translations

Bulgarian: тройка Czech: triáda Esperanto: triopo Finnish: kolmikko French: triade French: trio Galician: tríade German: Triade Greek: τριάδα Italian: triade Norwegian: trio Norwegian: triade Occitan: triada Russian: триа́да Spanish: tríada Spanish: triada Spanish: tríade Swedish: trio Swedish: triad Turkish: üçlü
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