Tertian
adj, noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A tertian fever.
"And although we feele it not, it is not to bee doubted, if a continuall ague may in the end suppresse our mind, a tertian will also (according to her measure and proportion) breed some alteration in it."
- 2 A cask of a certain size; its volume used as a measure of capacity (one-third of a tun's).
- 3 A Jesuit going through tertianship.
- 1 Characterised by paroxysms recurring every other day (that is, every third day by inclusive reckoning). not-comparable
- 2 Pertaining to the mean-tone temperament, in which major thirds are perfectly in tune. not-comparable
- 1 of or relating to a tonal system based on major thirds wordnet
- 2 relating to symptoms (especially malarial fever) that appear every other day wordnet
Example
More examples"And although we feele it not, it is not to bee doubted, if a continuall ague may in the end suppresse our mind, a tertian will also (according to her measure and proportion) breed some alteration in it."
Etymology
From Middle English tertiān, terciān, terciāne (adjective and noun), originally often as part of the collocation fever cum terciane, after Latin febris cum tertiānā. Compare the "third" essence of tertiary. By surface analysis, terti- + -an.
Related phrases
More for "tertian"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.