Etymograph

English

third

Third comes from Middle English thirde, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *tr̥tyós.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tr̥tyós1reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*þridjô1reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150þridda1
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500thirde1
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1994third1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English third
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1994, John David North, The Fontana History of Astronomy and Cosmology: “[…] thirds (sixtieths of seconds), fourths (sixtieths of thirds)…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tr̥tyósWiktionary, English thirdreconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*þridjôWiktionary, English thirdreconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150þriddaWiktionary, English third
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500thirdeWiktionary, English third
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1994thirdWiktionary, English third. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1994, John David North, The Fontana History of Astronomy and Cosmology: “[…] thirds (sixtieths of seconds), fourths (sixtieths of thirds)…”

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with third, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Proto-Germanic *þridjô

  • riding ← trithing ← *þriþing ← þriðjungr

Explore everything descended from *tr̥tyós →

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Today it means

adj The ordinal form of the cardinal number three; Coming after the second.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “third”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *tr̥tyós / third