What is "third"

Third \Third\ (th[~e]rd), a. [OE. thirde, AS. [thorn]ridda, fr. [thorn]r[=i], [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[=i]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.

2. Constituting or being one of three equal parts into which anything is divided; as, the third part of a day. Third estate.

   1. In England, the commons, or the commonalty, who are represented in Parliament by the House of Commons.

   2. 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.,

Third \Third\, n.

1. The quotient of a unit divided by three; one of three equal parts into which anything is divided.

2. The sixtieth part of a second of time.

3. (Mus.) The third tone of the scale; the mediant.

4. pl. (Law) The third part of the estate of a deceased husband, which, by some local laws, the widow is entitled to enjoy during her life.

   Major third (Mus.), an interval of two tones.

   Minor third (Mus.), an interval of a tone and a half.

late Old English metathesis of þridda, from Proto-Germanic *thridja- (cognates: Old Frisian thredda, Old Saxon thriddio, Middle Low German drudde, Dutch derde, Old High German dritto, German dritte, Old Norse þriðe, Danish tredie, Swedish tredje, Gothic þridja), from PIE *tri-tyo- (cognates: Sanskrit trtiyas, Avestan thritya, Greek tritos, Latin tertius (source of Italian terzo, Spanish tercio, French tiers), Old Church Slavonic tretiji, Lithuanian trecias, Old Irish triss, Welsh tryde), suffixed form of root *trei- (see three).\n

\nMetathesis of thrid into third is attested from c.950 in Northumbrian, but overall thrid was prevalent up to 16c. The noun meaning "third part of anything" is recorded from late 14c. Third rail in electric railway sense is recorded from 1890. Third World War as a possibility first recorded 1947. Third-rate "of poor quality" is from 1814, ultimately from classification of ships (1640s); third class in railway travel is from 1839. Third Reich (1930) is a partial translation of German drittes Reich (1923). Third party in law, insurance, etc., is from 1818.

1. The ordinal number form of the cardinal number three; Coming after the second. n. 1 The person or thing in the third position. 2 One of three equal parts of a whole. 3 (context uncountable English) The third gear of an engine. 4 (context music English) An interval consisting of the first and third notes in a scale. 5 (context baseball English) third base 6 (context archaic English) One sixtieth of a second, i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system. Also formerly known as a tierce. v

2. 1 To agree with a proposition or statement after it has already been second#Verb. 2 To divide into three equal parts.

1. adj. coming next after the second and just before the fourth in position [syn: 3rd, tertiary]

2. being one of three equal parts; "a third share of the money" [syn: third(a)]

adv. in the third place; "third we must consider unemployment" [syn: thirdly]

1. n. one of three equal parts of a divisible whole; "it contains approximately a third of the minimum daily requirement" [syn: one-third, tierce]

2. the fielding position of the player on a baseball team who is stationed near 3rd base; "he is playing third" [syn: third base]

3. following the second position in an ordering or series; "a distant third"; "he answered the first question willingly, the second reluctantly, and the third with resentment"

4. the musical interval between one note and another three notes away from it; "a simple harmony written in major thirds"

5. the third from the lowest forward ratio gear in the gear box of a motor vehicle; "you shouldn't try to start in third gear" [syn: third gear]

6. the base that must be touched third by a base runner in baseball; "he was cut down on a close play at third" [syn: third base]

Third or 3rd may refer to:

Third is the third studio album by the Canterbury associated band Soft Machine, originally released in 1970 as a double LP, with each side of the original vinyl consisting of a single, long composition.

Third is the last play written by Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Wendy Wasserstein, which premiered Off-Broadway in 2005. The play involves a female professor and her interactions with a student.

Third, also (since 1985) re-issued as Sister Lovers, is the third studio album by American rock band Big Star. It was recorded in 1974. Though Ardent Studios created test pressings for the record in 1975, a combination of financial issues, the uncommercial sound of the record, and lack of interest from singer Alex Chilton and drummer Jody Stephens in continuing the project prevented the album from ever being properly finished or released at the time of its recording. It was eventually released in 1978 by PVC Records.

After two commercially unsuccessful albums, Third documents the band's deterioration as well as the declining mental state of singer Alex Chilton. It has since gone on to become one of the most critically acclaimed albums in history and is considered a cult album. Rolling Stone placed the album at number 449 on its "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" list.

Third is the third studio album by the English band Portishead, released on 28 April 2008 on Island Records in the United Kingdom, 29 April on Mercury Records in the United States and 30 April on Universal Music Japan in Japan. Portishead's first studio album in 11 years, it moved away from the trip hop style the band had popularised, incorporating influences such as krautrock, surf rock, doo wop and the film soundtracks of John Carpenter. It was listed as one of the best albums of 2008 by several publications, entered the top ten of several countries' music charts, and has Gold certification in the UK.

In music, the third factor of a chord is the note or pitch two scale degrees above the root or tonal center. When the third is the bass note, or lowest note, of the expressed triad, the chord is in first inversion .

Conventionally, the third is third in importance to the root and fifth, with first inversion being the second strongest inversion and the third in all primary triads (I, IV, V and i, iv, v) being variable, major or minor. In jazz chords and theory, the third is required due to it determining chord quality.

The third in both major and augmented chords is major (E in C) and the third in both minor and diminished chords is minor (E in C).

In curling, a third (alternatively, vice, vice-skip or mate) is the team member who delivers the second-to-last pair of a team's stones in an end. The third is in charge of strategy and directing the sweepers when the skip is delivering their stones, but sweeps for the lead and second. The two vices are responsible for determining and recording the score after each end, and in most clubs, will determine by lot which team begins a game with the hammer and what colour stones each team will use. The third position requires a curler adept at executing shots with a high degree of accuracy, especially draws and other finesse shots, as the third needs to set up the house for the skip's stones.