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"third" in seven languages

Meaningthird

Spanish

tercero

/teɾˈθeɾo/

inherited

From the derivative TERTIĀRIUM; tercer before a masculine noun.

French

troisième

/tʁwazjɛm/

other source · French trois + -ième

Old French tiers (from TERTIUM) survives in le tiers 'a third' and le tiers-monde.

Italian

terzo

/ˈtɛrtso/

inherited

Portuguese

terceiro

/tehˈsejɾu/

inherited

From the derivative TERTIĀRIUM, like Spanish tercero.

Romanian

al treilea

/al ˈtrejle̯a/

other source · Romanian trei 'three' (Latin TRĒS) with the ordinal article al … -lea

fem.: a treia

Catalan

tercer

/təɾˈse/

inherited

From the derivative TERTIĀRIUM, like Spanish tercero.

English

third

/θɝd/

Indo-European kin · PIE *tr̥tyós

English → ItalianthirdterzoDistant cognateRelated only through Indo-European, thousands of years back (night ~ noche). But English has relatives: tertiary, tierce.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

TERTIUM‘third’

All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.

The story

From third on, French builds ordinals with -ième; Spanish and Italian keep Latin-derived ordinals (tercero, cuarto / terzo, quarto).

English relatives: tertiary, tierce

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In a sentence

  • esLlegó tercera en la carrera.
  • frElle est arrivée troisième à la course.
  • itÈ arrivata terza nella gara.
  • ptEla chegou em terceiro lugar na corrida.
  • roA ieșit a treia la cursă.
  • caVa arribar tercera a la cursa.
  • enShe came third in the race.

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