trivium

from WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)

trivium
    n 1: (Middle Ages) an introductory curriculum at a medieval
         university involving grammar and logic and rhetoric;
         considered to be a triple way to eloquence

from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Trivium \Triv"i*um\, n. [LL. See {Trivial}.]
   1. The three " liberal" arts, grammar, logic, and rhetoric;
      -- being a triple way, as it were, to eloquence.
      [1913 Webster]

   Note: The trivium and quadrivium together made up the seven
         liberal arts. See {Quadrivium}.
         [1913 Webster]

   2. (Zool.) The three anterior ambulacra of echinoderms,
      collectively.
      [1913 Webster]