Where does “ternery” come from?

ternery (English) comes from English tern, from Middle English terne, from Old French terne, from Latin ternas, from Latin terni, from Latin ter, from Latin terr, from Old Latin tris.

ternery (English): A colony of terns

Definitions

  1. A colony of terns

Ancestry of “ternery”, step by step

ternery traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via English tern

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishternAny of various sea birds of the family Sternidae...
2Middle Englishterne—
3Old Frenchternedull, dim
4Latinternasaccusative feminine plural of terni
5Latinternithree each; three at a time
6Latinterthrice
7Latinterr—
8Old Latintris—
9Proto-Italictrēsthree
10Proto-Indo-European*tréyes—

via English ery

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Englishery—
Every word from Proto-Indo-European *tréyes →Every word from Proto-Italic trēs →Every word from Old Latin tris →