triplet

American  

[trip-lit] / ˈtrɪp lɪt /

noun

1. one of three children or offspring born at the same birth.

2. triplets, three offspring born at one birth.

3. any group or combination of three.

4. Prosody. three successive verses or lines, especially when rhyming and of the same length; a stanza of three lines.

5. Also called tercet.  Music. a group of three notes to be performed in the time of two ordinary notes of the same kind.

6. an assembled imitation gem with three parts, the center one giving the color, the top and bottom, sometimes genuine, supplying the wearing qualities.

7. Genetics. a sequence of three nucleotides; a codon in messenger RNA and an anticodon in transfer RNA.

8. Optics. a compound lens in which three lenses are combined.

9. triplets, (in some card games) three cards of the same denomination.

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triplet British  

/ ˈtrɪplɪt /

noun

1. a group or set of three similar things

2. one of three offspring born at one birth

3. music a group of three notes played in a time value of two, four, etc

4. chem a state of a molecule or free radical in which there are two unpaired electrons

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Etymology

Origin of triplet

First recorded in 1650–60; triple + -et

Example Sentences

In many optical systems this triplet state is considered "dark," meaning that its energy is often lost instead of converted into useful light.

From Science Daily

If a parent, or parents, have one child, and the next are twins or triplets, then a claim can be made for all these children.

From BBC

The next best thing to having triplets on a high school football team is having three brothers.

From Los Angeles Times

"The key to the quenching mechanism lies in how quickly and efficiently the triplet states can be deactivated," said Alessandro Agostini, researcher at the University of Padua, Italy and co-lead author of the study.

From Science Daily

But there’s one in particular … it’s one where Lucero, a big pop star in Mexico, plays three versions of herself, so she’s a triplet.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• threesome
• trilogy
• triumvirate