tertial

[ tur-shuh l ]

/ ˈtɜr ʃəl /

Ornithology

adjective

pertaining to any of a set of flight feathers situated on the basal segment of a bird's wing.

noun

a tertial feather.

QUIZZES

Discover The Influence Of Portuguese On English Via This Quiz!

We’ve gathered some interesting words donated to English from Portuguese … as well as some that just don’t translate at all. Do you know what they mean?

Question 1 of 11

Which of the following bird names traces its immediate origin to Portuguese?

owl

crow

piranha

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Words nearby tertial

terrorize, terry, terry's syndrome, tersanctus, terse, tertial, tertian, tertian malaria, tertianship, tertiary, tertiary alcohol

Origin of tertial

1830–40; < Latin terti(us) third + -al¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Example sentences from the Web for tertial

Tertial, ter′shal, adj. of the third rank among the flight-feathers of a bird's wing.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements)|Various

British Dictionary definitions for tertial

tertial

/ (ˈtɜːʃəl) /

adjective, noun

another word for tertiary (def. 5), tertiary (def. 6)

Word Origin for tertial

C19: from Latin tertius third, from ter thrice, from trēs three

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012