Dictionary

triad en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈtɹaɪ.æd/
• (Southern-England) audio

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.

Meanings

1. A grouping of three.
   • Later artworks showed many animals and gods, some of which were clearly identified with heavenly body. They often included the symbolic triad of Sun, Moon, and Venus. 1998, John H. Roger, “Origins of the ancient constellations: I. The Mesopotamian traditions”, in Journal of the British Astronomy Association, volume 108, number 1, page 10, column 2:
   • There are, says the Irish triad, 'three fewnesses that are better than plenty: a fewness of fine words; a fewness of cows on grass; a fewness of good friends around good ale'. As an Ulsterman I would agree. 2000, David Pierce, Irish Writing in the Twentieth Century: A Reader, page 625:
2. A grouping of three. ▸ A romantic or sexual relationship between three individuals; a throuple.
3. A word of three syllables.
   • In his general deportment he was pompous and important, affecting a species of florid elocution, which often became ridiculous from his misarranging the triads and quaternions with which he loaded his sentences. 1815 February 24, [Walter Scott], chapter 13, in Guy Mannering; or, The Astrologer. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; and Archibald Constable and Co., […], →OCLC:
4. A branch of a Chinese underground criminal society, mostly based in Hong Kong.
   • The point — and the symbolism — was that so long as the informer kept his mouth shut he was alive. Harry had seen the result of zjuk carried out by the Tapei Triad on a poor jerk they found in a back street of Tan-shui. They had used broad nail heads that didn’t make such big holes on their way in. When the paramedics came and pulled the brick off the dead man, the face came with it. 2012 [2011], Jo Nesbø, translated by Don Bartlett, Gjenferd [Phantom] (Fiction), New York: Alfred A. Knopf, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 99:
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.

Forms

Coordinates

quaternion (word of four syllables)

Deriveds

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

Descendants

тріа́да

Relateds

mafia · tong · yakuza

Synonyms

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

Translations (45)

it triade (grouping of three) · fi kolmikko (grouping of three) · cs triáda (grouping of three) · fr trio (grouping of three) · fr triade (grouping of three) · it triade (underground society) · de Dreiklang (musical chord) · ko 삼화음 (musical chord) · eo triopo (grouping of three) · yue 三和弦 (musical chord) · sv treklang (musical chord) · ja 三合会 (underground society) · vi Hội Tam Hoàng (underground society) · sv trio (grouping of three) · grc τριάς (grouping of three) · vi liên ba (musical chord) · de Triade (grouping of three) · no triade (grouping of three) · oc triada (grouping of three) · de Triade (underground society) · sv triad (grouping of three) · fi triadi (underground society) · cs kvintakord (musical chord) · cs trojzvuk (musical chord) · ru триа́да (underground society) · es triada (grouping of three) · ko 삼합회 (underground society) · cmn 黑社會 /黑社会 (underground society) · bg тройка (grouping of three) · no trio (grouping of three) · ru триа́да (grouping of three) · es tríade (grouping of three) · sv triad (underground society) · cmn 三和弦 (musical chord) · fr triade (underground society) · yue 三合會 /三合会 (underground society) · fi kolmisointu (musical chord) · cmn 三合會 /三合会 (underground society) · yue 黑社會 /黑社会 (underground society) · tr üçlü (grouping of three) · el τριάδα (grouping of three) · vi xã hội đen (underground society) · mn триад (underground society) · es tríada (grouping of three) · gl tríade (grouping of three)