Etymograph

English

triliteral

Triliteral comes from Latin littera ‘letter’, and perhaps goes back to Old Latin leitera.

  1. Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEleitera1uncertain
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElittera2as lītera‘letter’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1911triliteral2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin littera, which cites Ernout, Meillet
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English triliteral
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1911, C. J. Ball, A Study in Biblical Philology: “[T]he philologist may well refuse to accept a body…”.

Lineage

  1. Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEleiteraWiktionary, Latin littera, which cites Ernout, Meilletuncertain
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElitteraWiktionary, English triliteralas lītera‘letter’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1911triliteralWiktionary, English triliteral. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1911, C. J. Ball, A Study in Biblical Philology: “[T]he philologist may well refuse to accept a body…”

Linked words

through Latin littera ‘letter’

letter, literally, literature, literary, illiterate, literate, literati, 8 more

Today it means

adj Consisting of three letters.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “triliteral”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin littera. 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 / Old Latin leitera / triliteral

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