# three

> English word · Numeral · IPA /θɹiː/ · frequency rank #164

## Definitions
1. A numerical value after two and before four. Represented in Arabic digits as 3; this many dots (•••).
2. Describing a set or group with three elements.

## Etymology
From Middle English thre, threo, thrie, thri, from Old English þrī, from Proto-West Germanic *þrīʀ, from Proto-Germanic *þrīz, from Proto-Indo-European *tréyes. Doublet of tres and trey.
Cognate with German drei, Albanian tre, Armenian երեք (erekʻ), Latin trēs, Latvian trīs, Lithuanian trỹs, Greek τρεῖς (treís), Old Church Slavonic трьѥ (trĭje), and others.

## Easily confused with
- **tre** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/three-vs-tre)
- **true** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/three-vs-true)
- **tree** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/three-vs-tree)
- **tire** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/three-vs-tire)
- **trek** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/three-vs-trek)
- **thru** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/three-vs-thru)
- **tore** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/three-vs-tore)
- **tyre** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/three-vs-tyre)
- **Trey** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/three-vs-trey)
- **tres** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/three-vs-tres)
- **throw** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/three-vs-throw)
- **tired** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/three-vs-tired)
- **trees** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/three-vs-trees)
- **threw** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/three-vs-threw)
- **tires** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/three-vs-tires)
- **tyres** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/three-vs-tyres)
- **thyme** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/three-vs-thyme)
- **throb** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/three-vs-throb)
- **Thule** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/three-vs-thule)
- **throne** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/three-vs-throne)

## Common misspellings (6)
`htree`, `thhree`, `thre`, `thrree`, `trhee`, `tthree`

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