• IPA: [ˈtri], like tree

1. (international standards) NATO & ICAO radiotelephony clear code (spelling-alphabet name) for the digit 3.

   Synonyms: terrathree

From Middle English thre, threo, thrie, thri, from Old English þrī, from Proto-West Germanic *þrīʀ, from Proto-Germanic *þrīz, from Proto-Indo-European *tréyes.

Cognate with German drei, Albanian tre, Armenian երեք, Latin trēs, Latvian trīs, Lithuanian trỹs, Greek τρεῖς, Church Slavic трьѥ, and others.

• (RP) enPR: thrē IPA: /θɹiː/, [θɾ̪̊iː], [θɾ̪̊ɪi], [θɹ̥ɪi]
• (British, th-fronting) enPR: frē IPA: /fɹiː/
• (Ireland) IPA: /θɹiː/, [θɾ̪̊iː], [t̪ɾ̪̊iː]
• (America) enPR: thrē IPA: /θɹiː/, [θɾ̪̊i], [θɹ̥i], [θɹi]

1. A numerical value after two and before four. Represented in Arabic digits as 3; this many dots (•••).
   • 1912 January, Zane Grey, chapter 8, in Riders of the Purple Sage […], New York, N.Y., London: Harper & Brothers Publishers, →OCLC ↗:

     Venters began to count them—one—two—three—four—on up to sixteen.

2. Describing a set or group with three elements.

• (numerical value) leash, tether (dialectal)

• third, thrice, triple

• French: trois
• German: drei
• Italian: tre
• Portuguese: três
• Russian: три
• Spanish: tres

• French: trio
• Italian: terna, trio
• Russian: тро́йка
• Spanish: trío

three (plural threes)

1. The digit/figure 3.
2. Anything measuring three units, as length.

   Put all the threes in a separate container.

3. A person who is three years old.

   All the threes will go in Mrs. Smith's class, while I'll take the fours and fives.

4. The playing card featuring three pips.
5. Three o'clock, either a.m. or p.m.
   • 1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “In which Three Investigators Come across a Dark Soul ↗”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019:

     It was a weary time. A carriage clock had been placed on the discoloured wooden mantelpiece, and slowly its hands crept on from one to two and from two to three.

6. (basketball) Abbreviation of three-pointer

• French: trois
• German: Drei
• Italian: tre
• Portuguese: três
• Russian: тро́йка
• Spanish: tres

1. .