three

Alternative forms

• thre, threy, thrie (all obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English thre, threo, thrie, thri, from Old English þrēo, þrīe, þrī, from Proto-Germanic *þrīz, from Proto-Indo-European *tréyes.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: thrē IPA^(key): /θɹiː/, [θɾ̪̊iː~θɾ̪̊ɪi]
• (Ireland) IPA^(key): /θɹiː/, [θɾ̪̊iː~t̪ɾ̪̊iː]
• (General American) enPR: thrē IPA^(key): /θɹi/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iː

Numeral

three

1. (cardinal) A numerical value after two and before four. Represented in Arabic digits as 3; this many dots (•••).
   • 1912, Zane Grey, Riders of the Purple Sage, Chapter 8

     Venters began to count them—one—two—three—four—on up to sixteen.

   • 2003 April 7, Jennifer Hale as Samantha “Sam” and Andrea Taylor as Clover, “A Spy is Born Part II”, in Totally Spies!, season 2, episode 1, written by Michelle and Robert Lamoreaux, Teletoon, Marathon Media:

     Okay, on three, we open the door and jump on the rope. One, two…
     Wait, wait! Do we go on three? Or do we go on “go”?
     Three! Who said anything about “go”?

   • 2011 October 18, Batman: Arkham City, written by Paul Dini; Paul Crocker; Sefton Hill, Rocksteady Studios, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment:

     Why should she care? One…two…
     Do we shoot on three?
     Yes on three. Like one, two, three, shoot.

2. (of a set or group) Having three elements.

Noun

three (plural threes)

1. The digit/figure 3.
2. Anything measuring three units, as length.

   Put all the threes in a separate container.

3. A person who is three years old.

   All the threes will go in Mrs. Smith's class, while I'll take the fours and fives.

4. The playing card featuring three pips.
5. (basketball) Abbreviation of three-pointer.

See also

Playing cards in English · playing cards (layout · text)
ace	deuce, two	three	four	five	six	seven
eight	nine	ten	jack, knave	queen	king	joker

Symbols of number three in various numeral systems

• Amharic numerals: ፫
• Arabic numerals: 3
• Assyro-Babylonian numerals: 𒁹𒁹𒁹
• Bengali numerals: ৩
• Chinese numerals: 叄, 三
• Eastern Arabic numerals: ٣‎
• Gujarati numerals: ૩
• Gurmukhi numerals: ੩
• Hindi numerals: ३

• Kannada numerals: ೩
• Khmer numerals: ៣
• Lao numerals: ໓
• Limbu numerals: ᥉
• Malayalam numerals: ൩
• Mongolian numerals: ᠓
• Myanmar numerals: ၃
• Oriya numerals: ୩
• Persian numerals: ۳‎
• Roman numerals: III
• Tamil numerals: ௩
• Telugu numerals: ౩
• Thai numerals: ๓
• Tibetan numerals: ༣

Anagrams

• Ehret, Ether, Reeth, ether, rethe, theer, there

Etymology

From Old Irish trí, from Proto-Celtic *trīs, from Proto-Indo-European *tréyes.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /t̪riː/

Numeral

three

1. (cardinal) three

References

• “trí” in Dictionary of the Irish Language, Royal Irish Academy, 1913–76.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /θriː/
• (South Scots) IPA^(key): /θrəi/
• (Shetland) IPA^(key): /triː/

Numeral

three

1. three