tertiaryadj.n.
/ˈtəːʃ(ɪ)əri/ A. adj.
1.
a. Of, in, or belonging to the third order, rank, degree, class, or category; third.
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the world > relative properties > number > specific numbers > three > group of three > [adjective] > third in order
third971
three1521
tertian1592
tertiary1656
ternary1690
ternal1804
1656 T. Blount Glossographia Tertiary,..of, or belonging to the third, or third sort, tertian.
1831 D. Brewster Treat. Optics ix. 84 When one prism of a different angle is thus made to correct the dispersion of another prism, a tertiary spectrum is produced.
1860 R. G. Mayne Expos. Lexicon Med. Sci. (at cited word) A tertiary peduncle is the second degree of ramification of a compound peduncle, or a bough of the branch which gives off the peduncle.
1865 J. Ruskin Sesame & Lilies i. 11 I venture to assume that you will admit duty as at least a secondary or tertiary motive.
1871 J. Earle Philol. Eng. Tongue vii. 359 The adverb is the tertiary, or third presentive word.
b. Chemistry.
(a) Applied to compounds regarded as being derived from ammonia by replacement of three hydrogen atoms by organic radicals, and to derivatives of such compounds; also extended to analogous derivatives of other elements, esp. phosphorus. [The sense is due to Gerhardt & Chiozza, who used French tertiaire ( Compt. Rend. (1853) XXXVII. 88).]
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the world > matter > chemistry > organic chemistry > amines > [adjective] > applied to compounds derived from ammonia
tertiary1854
1854 Q. Jrnl. Chem. Soc. 6 195 With regard to the tertiary amides,..their preparation is generally easier than that of the secondary amides.
1888 C. L. Bloxam Chem. (ed. 6) 586 The amides, like the amines..may be primary, secondary, or tertiary accordingly as one, two, or three atoms of H in the NH3 group has been replaced.
1964 N. G. Clark Mod. Org. Chem. xii. 232 The tertiary amines,..with no available hydrogen, are the nitrogen counterparts of the ethers.
(b) Applied to organic compounds other than amines, etc. (see sense A. 1b(a)) in which the characteristic functional group is located on a saturated carbon atom which is itself bonded to three other carbon atoms. [Applied originally to alcohols by H. Kolbe, who used German tertiär ( Ann. der Chem. u. Pharm. (1864) CXXXII. 104).]
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the world > matter > chemistry > organic chemistry > [adjective] > organic structure > organic compound structure
primary1864
secondary1864
tertiary1872
1872 Jrnl. Chem. Soc. 25 295 The oxidation of tertiary alcohols takes place according to a law similar to that which rules the oxidation of ketones.
1932 I. D. Garard Introd. Org. Chem. iii. 34 This formation of a ketone having fewer carbon atoms than the alcohol is characteristic of the oxidation of tertiary alcohols.
1964 N. G. Clark Mod. Org. Chem. xi. 222 The use of acyl chlorides in the above manner produces hydrogen chloride, which may have a deleterious effect on the compound undergoing acylation, e.g. tertiary alcohols readily give the alkyl chlorides.
1981 A. S. Wingrove & R. L. Caret Org. Chem. x. 435 Under basic conditions, tertiary alcohols do not undergo oxidation.
(c) Applied to a saturated carbon atom which is bonded to three other carbon atoms; also, bonded to or involving a tertiary carbon atom. Of an ion or a free radical: having (respectively) the electric charge or the unpaired electron located on a tertiary carbon atom.
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the world > matter > chemistry > organic chemistry > [adjective] > organic structure
primary1864
quaternary1871
vicinal1898
secondary1903
tertiary1903
1903 A. J. Walker & O. E. Mott tr. A. F. Holleman Text-bk. Org. Chem. i. 46 If it [sc. a carbon atom] is linked to two carbon atoms it is named secondary; if to three, tertiary; if to four, quaternary.
1972 C. H. DePuy & O. L. Chapman Molecular Reactions & Photochem. iv. 46 2,2-Dimethylcyclohexanone..cleaves to give the tertiary alkyl radical rather than the primary alkyl radical.
1972 R. O. C. Norman & D. J. Waddington Mod. Org. Chem. ix. 116 A tertiary carbonium ion is a relatively more stable species than a primary carbonium ion..and is formed much faster.
c. Surveying. Designating triangulation derived by subdivision from secondary triangulation (which in turn results from subdivision of primary triangulation) or points, bench-marks, etc., established by this.
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the world > the earth > earth sciences > geography > map-making > surveying > [adjective] > specific orders of triangulation
principal1790
secondary1790
tertiary1851
first-order1863
primary1920
1851 C. Davies Elem. Surveying (rev. ed.) iv. i. 181 When the secondary and tertiary triangles have been considerably multiplied, the compass is taken in hand.
1883 J. R. Oliver Pract. Astron. for Surveyors ii. ii. 121 The sides of the secondary triangles are from about 5 to 20 miles, and those of the tertiary triangles five or less.
1920 W. N. Thomas Surveying xiii. 382 A further sub~division resulted in the ‘Tertiary’ triangulation.
1965 A. Bannister & S. Raymond Surveying (ed. 2) ix. 293 The fourth order points give closer spacing in towns—tertiary and higher order points cover almost the whole country at a density of 0·05 trig point per km2, with a density of about 0·1 per km2 in towns.
1975 J. B. Harley Ordnance Survey Maps i. 7 This primary network is broken down successively into a secondary triangulation (giving a continuous network of stations between 8 km and 12 km apart), a tertiary triangulation (with a density of control points 4 to 7 km apart), and other lower orders of control.
d. Physics. Produced by the impact of secondary particles with matter.
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the world > matter > physics > atomic physics > particle physics > particle avoiding strong interaction > electron > [adjective] > of electrons: produced by impact
tertiary1938
1938 R. W. Lawson tr. G. von Hevesy & F. A. Paneth Man. Radioactivity (ed. 2) v. 61 On the average 2 or 3 tertiary electrons result from each secondary electron, when the primary β-radiation has a velocity 33 per cent. that of light.
1961 G. R. Choppin Exper. Nucl. Chem. iii. 35 Tertiary electrons may be produced by photoemission resulting from the photons of the secondary ionization process.
e. Designating the part of the economy or work-force concerned with services of all kinds, rather than with the production of foodstuffs or raw materials, or with manufacturing.
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society > occupation and work > worker > [adjective] > specific part of workforce
tertiary1940
quaternary1961
1940 Economist 21 Sept. 363/1 There is a steady tendency for labour to move out of primary production into secondary production (manufacture) and from secondary to tertiary production (all forms of services).
1961 J. Gottman Megalopolis xi. 576 One wonders whether a new distinction should not be introduced in all the mass of nonproduction employment: a differentiation between tertiary services—transportation, trade in the simpler sense of direct sales, maintenance, and personal services—and a new and distinct quaternary family of economic activities—services that involve transactions, analysis, research, or decision-making, and also education and government. Such quaternary types require more intellectual training and responsibility.
1974 B. Pearce tr. S. Amin Accumulation on World Scale I. 16 The sectors of the tertiary part of the economy—transport, trade, financial services—..are grafted upon the foreign economy.
1975 Guardian 20 Jan. 16/4 Tertiary industries are also being introduced..plants for the preparation of prefabricated houses and timber for construction.
f. tertiary structure n. Biochemistry the way the helix of a polynucleotide or polypeptide molecule is folded in three dimensions and bound to other helices.
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1952 K. U. Linderstrøm-Lang Proteins & Enzymes 58 The presence of intrahelix as well as interhelix bonds may justify a classification into secondary (intrahelix) and tertiary (interhelix) structures, as distinct from the primary structure of the simple β-chain.
1964 G. H. Haggis et al. Introd. Molecular Biol. iii. 59 The run of the peptide chain through the molecule..is known as the tertiary structure of a protein.
1978 Nature 5 Jan. 15/2 Studies on pancreatic trypsin inhibitor and hen egg white lysozyme suggest that at most there are only a limited number of folding pathways to the tertiary structure.
g. tertiary road n. (originally U.S.), a Class III road.
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society > travel > means of travel > route or way > way, path, or track > road > [noun] > road of specific class
second-class road1906
A1921
B1921
tertiary road1960
1960 J. S. Baker & W. R. Stebbings Dict. Highway Traffic 114 Land-service road, a road which is used primarily to give access to land. Sometimes called: tertiary road.
1971 J. Drummond Farewell Party xxx. 149 We were out on a tertiary road, and more or less alone.
1975 M. Kenyon Mr Big xxii. 224 The secondary road became a tertiary road of muddy craters.
h. tertiary education, that which follows secondary education and precedes, includes, or replaces university or professional training; so tertiary level; tertiary college, one at which such education is provided.
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society > education > [noun] > systematic education > adult or further education
adult education1814
further education1913
continuing education1927
tertiary level1961
society > education > place of education > college or university > [noun] > college
college1806
tertiary college1961
1961 Mind 70 105 The spread of secondary and latterly of tertiary education has created a large population of people..educated far beyond their capacity to undertake analytical thought.
1969 Guardian 26 Aug. 16/4 A ‘tertiary college’..in Exeter where sixth forms are to be merged in the College of Further Education.
1971 New Scientist 27 May 513/1 Whenever Britons wrote or talked about tertiary education, they generally meant university education.
1974 Bookseller 18 May 2402/1 (advt.) Can you sell our tertiary-level academic titles to booksellers in Scotland and North-East England?
1981 New Society 29 Jan. 192/1 Tertiary colleges—providing everything from a level Russian to pre-nursing courses and apprenticeship courses in motor engineering—are the colleges of the future..A sixth form college is for the more traditional sixth form intake. A tertiary college provides for all over-16s whatever their needs.
i. tertiary recovery n. the recovery of oil by advanced methods after conventional artificial means have ceased to be productive. Cf. secondary recovery n. at secondary adj. 5l.
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society > occupation and work > industry > drilling for oil or gas > [noun] > use of more advanced methods
tertiary recovery1975
1975 Petroleum Economist Aug. 292/2 Oil produced by tertiary recovery methods, from above the Arctic circle,..could sell at US $8·50 a barrel.
1976 National Observer (U.S.) 10 July 13/3 Given that profits hold, what is next for the oilmen? They answer, almost in unison: ‘tertiary recovery’.
2. Geology. Forming a third series in point of origin or age.† a. Applied by early geologists to mountains of the most recent formation.
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the world > the earth > structure of the earth > age or period > [adjective] > tertiary or Cenozoic
tertiary1794
caenozoic1863
Neozoic1873
a1760 G. Arduino Lett. in Nuova Raccolta d'opusc. scient. (1760) VI. 159 Monti..primitivi o primari..secondari..e terziari, li monti e colli del terzo ordine, che sta a ridosso del secondo e talvolta anche del primo.]
1794 R. J. Sulivan View of Nature I. x. 78 He [sc. Pallas] maintained, that in addition to these primordial mountains, there were others of a more recent origin. These he called secondary and tertiary.
a1812 Kirwan in N. Webster Amer. Dict. Eng. Lang. (1828) Tertiary mountains are such as result from the ruins of other mountains promiscuously heaped together.
b. In modern geology: of or pertaining to the third series of stratified formations: formerly including all those above the chalk; now restricted to the strata from the Eocene to the Pliocene, both inclusive. Also called Caenozoic adj.
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1816 F. Cuvier Dict. des Sciences Naturelles I. 482 Les terrains d'alluvion sont..désignés quelquefois par les géologistes sous les noms de terrains tertiaires.]
1822 W. D. Conybeare & W. Phillips Outl. Geol. Eng. & Wales 1 Tertiary Rocks. Comprising the Formations above the Chalk.
1824–5 D. Olmsted Geol. N. Carolina in Webster's New Internat. Dict. Eng. Lang. (1890) Tertiary formation, a series of horizontal strata, more recent than chalk beds... It comprehends the alluvial formation..and the diluvial formation.
1830 C. Lyell Princ. Geol. I. 49 Arduino, in his memoirs on the mountains of Padua, Vicenza, and Verona, first recognized the distinction between primary, secondary, and tertiary rocks.
1833 C. Lyell Princ. Geol. III. p. vii A large collection of tertiary shells.
1862 J. McCosh Supernat. ii. ii. §2. 183 Nor does Man descend from the mammals which preceded him in the tertiary age.
1863 C. Lyell Geol. Evid. Antiq. Man i. 3 Previously to the year 1833,..the strata called Tertiary had been divided by geologists into Lower, Middle, and Upper.
3. Painting. Applied to a colour formed by the mixture of two secondary colours.
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the world > matter > colour > [adjective] > tertiary
tertiary1848
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > painting > art of colouring > [adjective] > formed by mixing of two secondary colours
tertiary1848
1848 R. N. Wornum Lect. on Painting vi. 211 (note) Although there are but three primitive colours, painters have nine. These are—Yellow, Red, Blue;..Orange, Purple, Green, which are secondary;..Russet, Olive, Citrine, which are tertiary, being compounds of the secondaries.
1967 E. Short Embroidery & Fabric Collage i. 11 A mixture of all three primary colours results in tertiary colours. These are the subtle colours such as khaki, various browns, etc.
4. Pathology. Of or belonging to the third or last stage of syphilis.
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the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > venereal disease > [adjective] > syphilis > symptoms
tertiary1875
1875 H. C. Wood Treat. Therapeutics (1879) 404 In tertiary syphilis, including in the term all cases of syphilitic bone, visceral, or nervous disease, the remedy is really of inestimable value.
1899 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. VII. 668 It has..been considered inappropriate in this article to introduce the terms ‘secondary’ and ‘tertiary’ as applicable to the incidence of the phenomena of cerebral syphilis.
5. Roman Catholic Church. Of or belonging to the Third Order in certain religious fraternities: see B. 1.A Third Order, of lay members not subject to the strict rule of the regulars, but retaining the secular life, was originated by St. Francis of Assisi, and is an established institution among the Franciscans, Dominicans, and others. (See Catholic Dict.)
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society > faith > church government > laity > lay associations > Third Order > [adjective]
tertiary1891
1891 R. H. Busk in Notes & Queries 7th Ser. 11 289/2 The Franciscans, who loved [Dante], and in whose tertiary habit he was shrouded in the supreme hour.
1899 Westm. Gaz. 1 Sept. 2/3 The Tertiary Sister was discharged yesterday.
1902 Daily Chron. 2 Sept. 5/6 The murderer was a tertiary lay brother of the Dominican order.
6. Ornithology. Applied to certain feathers of the wing: see B. 3. Cf. tertial adj. and n.
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the world > animals > birds > parts of or bird defined by > [adjective] > having wings > having feathers on > relating to particular feathers
prime1637
primary1839
tertiary1858
remigial1879
tectricial1891
1858 J. Wilson in Encycl. Brit. XVI. 735/1 The tertials or tertiary feathers are derived from the humerus or arm-bone.
B. n.
1. Roman Catholic Church A member of the Third Order of certain religious fraternities: see A. 5.
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society > faith > church government > laity > lay associations > Third Order > [noun] > member of
tertiaryc1540
c1540 Image Ipocrysy iv, in J. Skelton Poet. Wks. (1843) II. 441/2 Some be Tercyaris, And some be of St. Marys.
1820 R. Southey Life Wesley II. 565 It may..deserve to be recognized as an auxiliary institution, its ministers being analogous to the regulars, and its members to the tertiaries and various confraternities of the Romish Church.
1909 Westm. Gaz. 15 July 3/3 The late Marquis [of Ripon], besides being a fervent Tertiary of St. Francis, was a friend in need to the Franciscan Order.
2. Geology. A stratum or formation belonging to the Tertiary system: see A. 2.
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the world > the earth > structure of the earth > age or period > stratigraphic units > [noun] > tertiary or Cenozoic
tertiary1851
1851 S. P. Woodward Man. Mollusca i. 45 In the miocene tertiaries of Asia Minor.
1885 Lyell's Elem. Geol. (ed. 4) ix. 110 The whole of the Tertiaries were at first confounded with the superficial alluviums of Europe.
3. Ornithology (plural). The quill- or flight-feathers that grow upon the humerus in the wing of a bird.
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the world > animals > birds > parts of or bird defined by > [noun] > wing or wings > feather(s) on > tertiary or tertiaries
tertiary1834
tertial1836
1834 R. Mudie Feathered Tribes Brit. Isles (1841) I. 10 The tertiaries or third quills of the wings.
1872 E. Coues Key to N. Amer. Birds 36 The Tertiaries..are, properly, the remiges that grow upon the upper arm. [Cf. tertial adj.]
4. Pathology (plural) Tertiary syphilitic symptoms: see A. 4.
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the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > venereal disease > [noun] > syphilis > symptoms
secondary1843
reminder1851
tertiary1897
taboparalysis1910
1897 J. Hutchinson in Arch. Surg. 8 218 Those who remain well and never present tertiaries.
5. Painting. A tertiary colour: see A. 3.
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the world > matter > colour > [noun] > secondary or tertiary colour
secondary colour1794
secondary1854
tertiary1854
binary colour1876
1854 F. W. Fairholt Dict. Terms Art at Secondary Colours When two secondaries are mixed together..they cannot neutralise each other, but only form half-tones or tertiaries.
1897 Daily News 20 May 7/4 Mr. Rhead is fortunate in handling effectively the most brilliant of positive colours as well as the quieter tertiaries.
6. Grammar. In Jespersen's terminology, a word or group of words of tertiary rank or importance in a phrase or sentence; = subjunct adj. and n. Cf. quote 1871 at sense A. 1a.
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the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > syntax or word order > syntactic unit or constituent > [noun] > word or phrase of specific rank or importance
quaternary1899
adjunct1914
subjunct1914
adnex1924
primary1924
secondary1924
tertiary1924
focus1966
1924 O. Jespersen Philos. Gram. xviii. 252 (heading) Secondaries and tertiaries.
1940 O. Jespersen in S.P.E. Tract (Soc. for Pure Eng.) No. LIV. 157 We thus distinguish between clause primaries, clause secondaries, and clause tertiaries.
1959 M. Schlauch Eng. Lang. in Mod. Times viii. 221 In this system [of Otto Jespersen's]..the modifier of a modifier (e.g., an adverb) is a tertiary.
Draft additions June 2003
Medicine. Designating or relating to the most highly specialized medical care available in a health-care system, typically that provided by a team of consultants and specialists in a major hospital with sophisticated diagnostic and therapeutic facilities. Chiefly in tertiary care. Cf. primary adj., secondary adj.
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1972 New Eng. Jrnl. Med. 286 549/1 The real choice for allocation of limited resources is between halfway technology and basic research—between tertiary care and primary prevention.
1986 Dædalus Spring 91 Today's house officer has much more to do to bring into use all of the facilities of a modern tertiary-care hospital.
1995 J. E. Rohde & H. Viswanathan Rural Private Practitioner 7 This should..serve to reduce the overload on secondary and tertiary facilities, which to a large extent are providing primary health care to a very substantial proportion of health seekers today.
Draft additions September 2020
Ecology. Designating an organism in a particular community that belongs to the highest trophic level among its producer organisms or to the highest level among its consumer organisms (as a carnivore that eats other carnivores); of or relating to such organisms.
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1941 Amer. Midland Naturalist 26 638 As secondary consumers, they may be eaten in turn by such tertiary consumers as larger swimming predators.
1997 Oikos 78 341 In this bottom-up scenario, we predict that as primary productivity varies with rainfall, so should secondary (mammal prey densities), and tertiary productivity (vertebrate predators).
2008 G. Dickinson & K. Murphy Ecosystems (ed. 2) i. 24 Interactions between individuals and populations at different trophic levels relate primarily to patterns of consumption, starting with the intake of autotrophic plant tissue by primary consumers and moving up the food chain through secondary and tertiary consumption.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1911; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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adj.n.c1540