terce
/tɝːs/noun
terce is spelled T-E-R-C-E: 5 letters. It appears about once in every 59 million words in written English, the 240,237th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, terce means “The third hour of daylight (about 9 am)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of terce is terces.
How many letters and syllables are in terce?
| Letters | 5: T-E-R-C-E |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 59 million words; the 240,237th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Sounds like | |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is terce?
Terce appears about once in every 59 million words in written English, the 240,237th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce terce?
- UK /tɜːs/
- US /tɝːs/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Words people confuse with terce
Sounds like: terse (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with terce?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as terce from its last stressed vowel (/ɜɹs/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: erect, recte.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of terce
- terces plural
- tierce
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does terce mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The third hour of daylight (about 9 am).
- 2
The service appointed for this hour.
- 3
A widow's right, where she has no conventional provision, to a liferent of a third of the husband's heritable property.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Terce in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense third hour of daylight:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | tierce |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does terce come from?
Late Middle English, from Old French terce, from Latin tertia (“third; the third hour”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).