GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English

last match results

Found 2 definitions

1.       
   Tertiary , a. [L. tertiarius containing a third part, fr. tertius third: cf. F. tertiaire. See Tierce.]
   Being of the third formation, order, or rank; third; as, a tertiary use of a word.
   Trench.
   
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   (Chem.) Possessing some quality in the third degree; having been subjected to the substitution of three atoms or radicals; as, a tertiary alcohol, amine, or salt.  Cf. Primary, and Secondary.
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   (Geol.) Later than, or subsequent to, the Secondary.
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   (Zool.) Growing on the innermost joint of a bird's wing; tertial; -- said of quills.
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   Tertiary age. (Geol.) See under Age, 8. -- Tertiary color, a color produced by the mixture of two secondaries. “The so-called tertiary colors are citrine, russet, and olive.” Fairholt. -- Tertiary period. (Geol.) (a) The first period of the age of mammals, or of the Cenozoic era. (b) The rock formation of that period; -- called also Tertiary formation. See the Chart of Geology. -- Tertiary syphilis (Med.), the third and last stage of syphilis, in which it invades the bones and internal organs.
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2.       
   Tertiary, n.; pl. Tertiaries .
   (R. C. Ch.) A member of the Third Order in any monastic system; as, the Franciscan tertiaries; the Dominican tertiaries; the Carmelite tertiaries. See Third Order, under Third.
   Addis & Arnold.
   
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   (Geol.) The Tertiary era, period, or formation.
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   (Zool.) One of the quill feathers which are borne upon the basal joint of the wing of a bird. See Illust. of Bird.
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