Tertiary /(?)/
Ter·ti·a·ry
Tertiary
a.
- Being of the third formation, order, or rank; third; as, a tertiary use of a word.
- Possessing some quality in the third degree; having been subjected to the substitution of three atoms or radicals; as, a tertiary alcohol, amine, or salt. Cf. Primary, and Secondary. (Chem.)
- Later than, or subsequent to, the Secondary. (Geol.)
- Growing on the innermost joint of a bird's wing; tertial; -- said of quills. (Zool.)
Phrases & Compounds
- Tertiary age
- See under Age, 8.
- Tertiary color
- a color produced by the mixture of two secondaries.
- Tertiary period
- The first period of the age of mammals, or of the Cenozoic era.
- Tertiary syphilis
- the third and last stage of syphilis, in which it invades the bones and internal organs.
Tertiary
n.
pl. Tertiaries
- A member of the Third Order in any monastic system; as, the Franciscan tertiaries; the Dominican tertiaries; the Carmelite tertiaries. See Third Order, under Third. (R. C. Ch.)
- The Tertiary era, period, or formation. (Geol.)
- One of the quill feathers which are borne upon the basal joint of the wing of a bird. See Illust. of Bird. (Zool.)