Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “tri” come from?

Tri comes from Proto-Indo-European tréyes, meaning three, the cardinal number that forms the basis of words expressing the concept of the number three across Indo-European languages.

tri (English): triathlon; triangle

Definitions

  1. triathlon; triangle

Ancestry of “tri”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Proto-Indo-Europeantréyesthree

Words derived from “tri”

  • tris
  • trifecta
  • tricameral
  • tridactyl
  • tricameralism
  • triadelphous
Every word from Proto-Indo-European tréyes →