# tertiary

> English word · Adjective · IPA /ˈtɜː.ʃi.ə.ɹiː/ · frequency rank #14,439

## Definitions
1. Of third rank or order; subsequent.
2. Possessing some quality in the third degree; especially having been subjected to the substitution of three atoms or radicals.
3. Of quills: growing on the innermost joint of a bird's wing; tertial.

## Etymology
PIE word
 *tréyes
Borrowed from the Latin tertiārius (“of the third part or rank”), from tertius (“third”) (from Proto-Indo-European *tr̥tyós, whence English third) + -ārius (whence the English suffix -ary); compare the French tertiaire. By surface analysis, terti- + -ary.

## Common misspellings (12)
`etrtiary`, `teritary`, `terrtiary`, `tertairy`, `tertiarry`, `tertiaryy`, `tertiayr`, `tertiray`, `terttiary`, `tetriary`, `tretiary`, `ttertiary`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/tertiary