τριάς

See also: -τριας

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From τρι- (tri-) +‎ -άς (-ás). First use in the Christian theological sense dates back to the second century AD, predating Latin trinitas.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /tri.ás/ → /triˈas/ → /triˈas/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /tri.ás/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /triˈas/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /triˈas/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /triˈas/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /triˈas/

Noun

τρῐᾰ́ς • (trĭắs) f (genitive τρῐᾰ́δος); third declension

1. the number three
   • 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Phaedo 104a:

     ἀλλ’ ὅμως οὕτως πέφυκε καὶ ἡ τριὰς καὶ ἡ πεμπτὰς καὶ ὁ ἥμισυς τοῦ ἀριθμοῦ ἅπας

     all’ hómōs hoútōs péphuke kaì hē triàs kaì hē pemptàs kaì ho hḗmisus toû arithmoû hápas

     Yet the number three and the number five and half the numbers in general are so constituted.

2. a group of three; triad
   • 371 BCE – 287 BCE, Theophrastus, On Winds 49:

     τελευτᾷ ἐν τῇ πρώτῃ τριάδι

     teleutâi en têi prṓtēi triádi

3. (prosody) system of three strophes
   • Hephaestio, Collected Works 61C
4. (Christianity) Trinity
   • 534 CE, Codex Justinianus 1.1.5.2

Inflection

Third declension of ἡ τρῐᾰ́ς; τῆς τρῐᾰ́δος (Attic)

Case / #	Singular
Nominative	ἡ τρῐᾰ́ς hē trĭắs
Genitive	τῆς τρῐᾰ́δος tês trĭắdos
Dative	τῇ τρῐᾰ́δῐ têi trĭắdĭ
Accusative	τὴν τρῐᾰ́δᾰ tḕn trĭắdă
Vocative	τρῐᾰ́ς trĭắs
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension. Nominative singular -ς (-s) arose by reduction of the original cluster *-ds.

Derived terms

• τριαδίζω (triadízō)
• τριαδικός (triadikós)
• τριάζω (triázō)

Descendants

• → English: triad
• → Latin: trias

References

• “τριάς”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “τριάς”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• τριάς in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • three idem, page 869.
  • triad idem, page 893.