third

American  

[thurd] / θɜrd /

adjective

1. next after the second; being the ordinal number for three.

2. being one of three equal parts.

3. Automotive. of, relating to, or operating at the gear transmission ratio at which the drive shaft speed is greater than that of second gear for a given engine crankshaft speed, but not as great as that of fourth gear, if such exists.

   third gear.

4. rated, graded, or ranked one level below the second.

   He's third engineer on the ship.

---

noun

• thirds
  plural

1. a third part, especially of one (1/3).

2. the third member of a series.

3. Automotive. third gear.

   Don't try to start a car when it's in third.

4. a person or thing next after second in rank, precedence, order.

   The writer of the best essay will receive a gold medal, the second a silver, and the third a bronze.

5. Law. Usually thirds

   1. the third part of the personal property of a deceased husband, which in certain circumstances goes absolutely to the widow.

   2. a widow's dower.

6. Music.

   1. a tone on the third degree from a given tone (counted as the first).

   2. the interval between such tones.

   3. the harmonic combination of such tones.

7. Baseball. third base.

8. Commerce. Usually thirds. a product or goods below second quality.

adverb

1. in the third place; thirdly.

third British  

/ θɜːd /

adjective

1. 1. coming after the second and preceding the fourth in numbering or counting order, position, time, etc; being the ordinal number of three: often written 3rd

   2. ( as noun )

      he arrives on the third

      the third got a prize

2. rated, graded, or ranked below the second level

3. denoting the third from lowest forward ratio of a gearbox in a motor vehicle

---

noun

1. 1. one of three equal or nearly equal parts of an object, quantity, etc

   2. ( as modifier )

      a third part

2. the fraction equal to one divided by three ( 1/ 3 )

3. the forward ratio above second of a gearbox in a motor vehicle. In some vehicles it is the top gear

4. 1. the interval between one note and another three notes away from it counting inclusively along the diatonic scale

   2. one of two notes constituting such an interval in relation to the other See also interval major minor

5. Full term: third class honours degree.  an honours degree of the third and usually the lowest class

6. (plural) goods of a standard lower than that of seconds

adverb

1. Also: thirdly.  in the third place

1. Also: thirdly.  as the third point: linking what follows with the previous statements as in a speech or argument

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• thirdly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• thirds
  plural

Etymology

Origin of third

before 900; Middle English thirde, Old English (north) thirda, variant of thridda; cognate with Dutch derde, German dritte, Old Norse thrithi, Gothic thridja, Greek trítos, Latin tertius, Sanskrit tṛtīya. See three

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

third thirds

In the series, Barnes also suffered from postpartum depression during the show’s third and fourth seasons.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026

For the first time in at least two years, however, technology occupied the second and third positions in his portfolio, based on data from Whale Wisdom.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 17, 2026

Stripping out gas, annual inflation held at 2.2% for a third straight month.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026

And about a third are out of order.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026

In the doorway of my assigned room on the third floor I could see the dim outline of a body in the bed closest to the door and an empty bed closer to the window.

From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse

Khan arrived in the UK in a back of a lorry in 2015, Nottingham Crown Court heard, and faces automatic deportation to Afghanistan after he has served two thirds of his sentence.

From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026

Kim needed at least two thirds of the 1,000 delegates attending the labor federation’s Oakland convention.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026

A neutral weighting on the U.S. in a global equity fund is around two thirds.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 30, 2026

Travel Association found that 91% of visitors were glad they’d made the trip, and nearly two thirds returned home with a more favorable opinion of America.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 18, 2026

Indeed, after the 1930s the thirds and sevenths actually became known as ‘blue’ notes.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall