from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Third \Third\ (th[~e]rd), a. [OE. thirde, AS. [thorn]ridda, fr.
[thorn]r[imac], [thorn]re['o], three; akin to D. derde third,
G. dritte, Icel. [thorn]ri[eth]i, Goth. [thorn]ridja, L.
tertius, Gr. tri`tos, Skr. t[.r]t[imac]ya. See {Three}, and
cf. {Riding} a jurisdiction, {Tierce}.]
1. Next after the second; coming after two others; -- the
ordinal of three; as, the third hour in the day. "The
third night." --Chaucer.
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2. Constituting or being one of three equal parts into which
anything is divided; as, the third part of a day.
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{Third estate}.
(a) In England, the commons, or the commonalty, who are
represented in Parliament by the House of Commons.
(b) In France, the tiers ['e]tat. See {Tiers ['e]tat}.
{Third order} (R. C. Ch.), an order attached to a monastic
order, and comprising men and women devoted to a rule of
pious living, called the third rule, by a simple vow if
they remain seculars, and by more solemn vows if they
become regulars. See {Tertiary}, n., 1.
{Third person} (Gram.), the person spoken of. See {Person},
n., 7.
{Third sound}. (Mus.) See {Third}, n., 3.
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