tridigitate 
trldigitate (tri-dij'i-tat), . [< L. ires (tri-), 
three, + digitutits, fingered, toed : see digitate.'] 
1. Having three fingers or toes; tridactyl. 2. 
In hot., thrice digitate. 
tridimensional (tri-di-men'shon-al), a. [< L. 
tres (tri-), three, + dimensio(n-), dimension, + 
-til.'] Having three (and only three) dimensions 
that is, length, breadth, and thickness ; of or 
relating to space so characterized. 
I only cite these theories to illustrate the need which 
coerces men to postulate something tridimensional as the 
first thing in external perception. 
W. James, Hind, XII. 206, note. 
tridingt (tri 'ding), n. Same as tritliing, now 
riiliiif. 
tridodecahedralt (tri-d6"dek-a-he'dral), a. [< 
Gr. rpeif (rpi-), three, + iadexa, twelve, + efpa, 
base. Cf. dodecahedron.] In crystal., present- 
ing three ranges of faces, one above another, 
each containing twelve faces. 
triduan (trid'u-an), a. [< LL. triduanus, last- 
ing three days, (. L. triduum, a space of three 
days, prop. neut. adj. (sc. spatitim, space), < 
tres (tri-), three, + dies, a day : see dial.] Last- 
ing three days, or happening every third day. 
[Bare.] 
triduo (trid'u-6), n. [Sp. triduo = It. triduo, < 
ML. triduum : see triduum.] Same as triduwm. 
Imp. Diet. 
triduum (trid-u'um), n. [ML., < L. triduum, a 
space of three days: svetriduan.] 1. Aspaceof 
three days. 2. In the Rom. Cath. Ch., prayers 
for the space of three days as a preparation for 
keeping a saint's day, or for obtaining some 
favor of God by means of the prayers of a saint. 
tridymite (trid'i-mit), n. [< Gr. rpiSviMf, three- 
fold, < rpeif (rpi-), three, + -Sv^of, as in <5i6v[iof, 
double.] A crystallized form of silica, found 
in minute transparent tabular hexagonal crys- 
tals in trachyte and other igneous rocks, usu- 
ally in twinned groups, and commonly of three 
crystals. It has a lower specific gravity than 
quartz (2.2), and is soluble in boiling sodium 
carbonate. 
tridynamous (tri-din'a-mus), a. [< Gr. rpeir: 
(rpi-), three, + ivva/iif, power.] In bot., having 
three of the six stamens longer than the other 
three. 
trie 1 !, . An obsolete spelling of try. 
trie 2 !,. [ME. also trye, < OF. trie, tried, pp. 
of trier, try: see try. Cf. tried."] Choice; se- 
lect; fine; great. 
He has a sone dere, 
On the triest man to-ward of alle dou^ti dedes. 
William of Palerne (E. E. T. S.X 1. 1443. 
tried (trid), p. a. [Early mod. E. also tryed ; < 
ME. tried, tryed; < try + -ed%.] 1. Tested; 
proved ; hence, firm ; reliable. 
Seeldome chaunge the better brought ; 
Content who lives with tryed state 
Neede feare no chaunge of frowning fate. 
Spenser, Shep. Cal., September. 
true and tried, so well and long. 
Tennyson, In Memoriam, Conclusion. 
2f. Choice; excellent. 
Treuthe is tresour triedest on eorthe. 
Piers Plowman (A), i. 126. 
One Ebes, an od man & honerable of kyn, 
Of Tracy the tru kyng was his triet fader. 
Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. S.), 1. 9538. 
triedlyt (tri'ed-li), adv. [< tried + -ly%.] By 
trial or test. 
That thing ought to seme no newe matter vnto you, 
whyche wente long a go before in the triedly proued 
prophetes, and lately in Christe. J. Udall, On Peter iv. 
triedral (tri-e'dral), a. See trihedral. 
trielyt, adv. [ME. trielich, trieliche ; < trie? + 
-ly' 2 .] Choicely; finely; excellently. 
Than were the messangeres in alle maner wise 
So trieliche a-tired. 
William, of Palerne (E. E. T. S.), 1. 4819. 
trient, a. and n. An obsolete variant of trine 3 . 
triencephalus (trl-en-sef'a-lus), n.; pi. trien- 
cephali (-11). [NL., < Gr. rpeZf (rpt-), three, + 
e-y/ctipalof, brain. ] In teratoL , a monster in which 
three organs of sense namely, hearing, smell, 
and vision are wanting. 
triennalt (tri-en'al), re. [ME. triennal, triennel, 
< OF. triennal, < ML. triennale, a mass said for 
three years, < L. triennium, a space of three 
years: see triennial.] Same as triennial, 1. 
The preest preuede no pardon to Do-wel ; 
And demede that Dowel indulgences passede, 
Byennals and tryennals and bisshopes letteres. 
Piers Plowman (C), x. 320. 
triennial (tri-en'i-al), a. and re. [< L. as if 
"triennialis, < triennium, a period of three years, 
< tres (tri-), three, + annus, a year: see annual. 
Cf. triennal.] I. a. 1 . Continuing three years : 
6474 
as, triennial parliaments; specifically, of plants, 
lasting or enduring for three years. 
There are that hold the elders should be perpetual : there 
are others for a triennial, others for a biennial eldership. 
lip. Hall, Episcopacy by Divine Right, ill. 5. 
2. Happening every three years. 
The triennial election of senators. 
The Century, XXXVII. 871. 
Triennial abbot. See abbot. Triennial Act, an Eng- 
lish statute of 1694 which required that a new Parliament 
be summoned at least once in three years, and that no Par- 
liament be continued more than three years. It was re- 
pealed by the Septennial Act, in 1716. Triennial pre- 
scription, in Scots law, a limit of three years within which 
creditors can bring actions for certain classes of debts, such 
as merchants' and tradesmen's accounts, servants' wages, 
house rents (when under verbal lease), and debts due to 
lawyers or doctors. 
II. n. 1 . A mass performed daily for three 
years for the soul of a dead person. 2. A plant 
which continues to live for three years. 3. Any 
event, service, ceremony, etc., occurring once 
in three years ; specifically, the third anniver- 
sary of an event. 
triennially (tri-en'i-al-i), adv. Once in three 
years, liailey, 1727. 
triens (tri'enz), . ; pi. trientes (tri-en'tez). 
[L., the third part of anything, < tres (tri-), 
three: see three.] 1. A copper coin of the an- 
cient Roman republic, the third part of the as; 
also, a gold coin of the Roman empire, the third 
Eart of the solidus. See as* and solidus. 2. 
n law, a third part ; also, dower. 
triental (tri'en-tal), a. [< L. trientalis, that 
contains a third, '< trien(t-)s, a third part : see 
triens.] Of the value of a triens; of or per- 
taining to the triens, or third part. 
Trientalis (tri-en-ta'lis), n. [NL. (Linnseus, 
1737) : see triental.] A genus of gamopetalous 
plants, of the order Primulacese and tribe Lysi- 
machieee. It is characterized by flowers with a deeply 
parted wheel-shaped corolla, bearing the stamens on its 
base, and by a five-valved capsule containing white round- 
ish seeds. There are only 2 species, growing in high lat- 
itudes or at high altitudes T. Europxa, in both Europe 
and North America, and T. Americana, from the mountains 
of Virginia to Labrador, and west to the Saskatchewan. 
They are smooth delicate plants, growing in woodlands 
from a slender, creeping, perennial rootstock, and pro- 
ducing a single slender stem hearing a whorl of entire 
leaves, and a few delicate star-like flowers on slender 
peduncles. They are known as star-fewer, especially T. 
Americana. Both species are also called chickweed winter- 
green. 
trientes, n. Plural of triens. 
trier (tri'er), n. [Formerly also tryer, also in 
law trtor; < OF. "triour, < trier, try: see try.] 
1. One who tries; one who examines, investi- 
gates, tests, or attempts; one who experiments. 
Than the thre knyghtes answered hotely, and sayde 
howe they set but lytell by the manassyng of a sonne of a 
tryer of hony. Berners, tr. of Froissart's Chron., I. ccccii. 
The ingenious triers of the German experiment. Boyle. 
Specifically (a) In Eng. hist., a member of a committee 
appointed by the king, and charged with examining peti- 
tions, referring them to the courts, and reporting them to 
Parliament, if so required. 
The triers [of petitions] were selected by the king from 
the list of the lords spiritual, the lords temporal, and the 
justices. Stubbs, Const. Hist., 434. 
(&) Under the Commonwealth, an ecclesiastical commis- 
sioner appointed by the Parliament to examine the charac- 
ter and qualifications of ministers for institution and in- 
duction. 
There was lately a company of men called Tryers, com- 
missioned by Cromwell, to judge of the abilities of such 
as were to be admitted by them into the ministry. 
South, Sermons, IV. 1. 
(c) One who tries judicially ; a judge. 
The almighty powers . . . I invoke as triers ot mine in- 
nocency and witnesses of my well meaning. 
Sir P. Sidney, Arcadia, iii. 
Prepare yourselves to hearken to the verdict of your 
fryers. B. Jonson, Poetaster, v. 1. 
(d) In law, one appointed to decide whether a challenge to 
a juror is just. See trim. 
2. That which tries; a test. 
You were used 
To say extremity was the trier of spirits. 
Shak., Cor., iv. 1. 4. 
trierarch (tri'er-ark), n. [= F. trierarque, < L. 
trierarchus. < Gr. rpiypapxof, the commander of 
a trireme, < Tpifjpqc, a trireme, + ap%uv, be first, 
rule.] In Gr. antiq., the commander of a tri- 
reme ; also, a property-holder who was obliged 
to build ships and equip them at his own. ex- 
pense, as a public liturgy. 
trierarchal (tri'er-ar-kal), a. [< trierarch + 
-al.] Of or pertaining to a trierarch or the tri- 
erarchy. 
The reform in the trierarchal law was proposed by De- 
mosthenes. M . L. D'Ooye, Xote on Demosthenes's Oration 
[De Corona (ed. 1875), p. 182. 
trierarchy (tri'er-ar-ki), w. [< Gr. 
the office or dignity of a trierarch, < 
trifle 
a trierarch: see trierurch.] 1. The office or 
duty of a trierarch. 2. The trierarchs collec- 
tively. 3. The system in ancient Athens of 
forming a national fleet by compelling certain 
wealthy persons to fit out and maintain vessels 
at their own expense. 
triett, . An obsolete variant of tried. 
trieteric (tri-e-ter'ik), a. [< L. triete-ricus, < Gr. 
rpierr/piKdr, occurring once in three years, < Tpeif 
(rpi-), three, + t-rof, a year: see veteran.] Tri- 
ennial ; kept or occurring once in three years. 
[Rare.] 
The trieteric festival on Mount Parnassus. 
C. 0. Muller, Manual of Arehieol. (trans.), 390. 
trieterical (tri-e-ter'i-kal), a. [< trieteric + 
-al.] Same as trieteric. 
The trieterical sports, I mean the orgia, that is, the mys- 
teries of Bacchus. 
Qretjory, Notes on Scripture (ed. 1684), p. 107. 
trietericst (tri-e-ter'iks), n. pi. [< L. trieterica 
(sc. oryia), a triennial festival, neut. pi. of trie- 
tericus : see trieteric.'] A festival or games cele- 
brated once in three years. 
To whome in mixed sacrifice 
The Theban wiues at Delphos solemnize 
Their trieterickes. 
Hay, tr. of Lucan's Pharsalia, v. 
trifacial (tri-fa'shal), . and . [< L. tres (tri-), 
three, + fades, face.] I. a. 1. Of or pertain- 
ing to the face in a threefold manner: specifi- 
cally applied to the fifth cranial nerve, or tri- 
geminus, which divides into three main branches 
to supply the face and some other parts, and 
has the threefold function of a nerve of mo- 
tion, of common sensation, and of special sense 
(gustatory). Also called trigeminal, upon other con- 
siderations. The term trifacial is contrasted with facial, 
applied to the 'seventh cranial nerve, the main motor 
nerve of the muscles of the face. See facial. 
2. Of or pertaining to the trifacial nerve. Tri- 
facial neuralgia, neuralgia of some portion of the face 
in the distribution of the trifacial nerve. 
II. w. The trigeminal nerve. In man this is the 
largest cranial nerve, and resembles a spinal nerve in some 
respects, arising by two roots, a small anterior simple motor 
root and a large posterior ganglionated sensory root. The 
superficial or apparent origin from the brain is from the 
side of the pons Varolii, where the two roots come off to- 
gether. It passes to a depression upon the end of the pet- 
rosal bone, where the sensory fibers form the large semi- 
lunar ganglion known as the Qasserian ; the motor fibers 
accompany but do not enter into the formation of this gan- 
glion. Beyond the ganglion the nerve immediately di- 
vides into three main branches, the ophthalmic, supramax- 
illary, and inframaxillary, which leave the cranial cavity 
separately, respectively by the foramen lacerum anterius, 
foramen rotundum, and foramen ovale of the sphenoid 
bone. The motor fibers supply the muscles of mastica- 
tion. The character of the nerve varies much in the verte- 
brate series. See cuts under brain, Cyclodus, Esox, and 
Petromyzontidat. 
trifallowt (tri'fal-6), v. t. Same as thrifallow. 
The beginning of August is the time of trifallou'ing, or 
last plowing, before they sow their wheat. Mortimer. 
trifarious (tri-fa'ri-us), a. [< L. trifarius (= 
Gr. Tpi<j>aaiof), of three sorts, threefold, < tres 
(tri-), three, + -farms as in bifaritis : see bifa- 
rious.] Arranged in three ranks, rows, or se- 
ries; in bot., facing three ways; arranged in 
three vertical ranks ; tristichous. 
trifasciated (tri-fash'i-a-ted), a. [< L. tres 
(tri-), three, + fascia, band : seefasciate.] Sur- 
rounded by or marked with three bands. Pen- 
nant, Brit. Zool. (ed. 1777), IV. 88. 
trifld (tri'fid), a. [< L. trifidug, < tres (tri-), 
three, + findere, cleave: see bite. Cf. bifid.] 
Divided into three parts. Specifically (o) In bot., 
divided half-way into three parts by linear sinuses with 
straight niargins; three-cleft (6) In zool., three-cleft; 
deeply tridentate ; divided into three parts ; trichotouious. 
triflstulary (tri-fis'tu-la-ri), a. [< L. tres (tri-), 
three, + fistula, pipe.] Having three pipes. 
Many ... of that species . . . whose trijistulary bill or 
crany we have beheld. Sir T. Browne, Vulg. Err., iii. 12. 
triflagellate (tri-flaj'e-lat), a. [< L. tres (tri-), 
three, + flagellmn, a whip.] Having three fla- 
gella, as an infusorian ; trimastigate. 
trifle 1 (tri'fl), n. [< ME. trifle, trifel, triful, try- 
fule, trefle, trefele, trufle, truful, trufful, truyfle, 
< OF. trufle, truffle, trofle, a jest, jesting, mock- 
ery, raillery, a var., with intrusive I (as in 
treacle, chronicle, etc.), of trtiffe, a jest, mock, 
flout, gibe : supposed to be a transposed use of 
trttffe, F. truffe, a truffle (cf. F. dial, truffe, treufe, 
potato), = Pr. trufa = Sp. trufa = It. truffa, a 
truffle (a truffle being regarded formerly, it is 
thought, as a type of a small or worthless ob- 
ject): see truffle.] If. A jest; a joke; a pleas- 
antry. 
Efterward byeth the bourdes [jests] and the trvfles uol 
of uelthe and of leazinges, thet me clepeth ydele wordes. 
Ayenbite of Inwyt (E. E. T. S.), p. 58. 
2f. A trick ; a fraud ; a lie. 
