tertiary
adjective
ter·tia·ry
| \ ˈtər-shē-ˌer-ē
, -shə-rē
\
, -shə-rē
\
Definition of tertiary
(Entry 1 of 2)
1a
: of third rank, importance, or value
b
chiefly British
: of, relating to, or being higher education
c
: of, relating to, or constituting the third strongest of the three or four degrees of stress recognized by most linguists (such as the stress of the third syllable of basketball team)
2
capitalized
: of, relating to, or being the first period of the Cenozoic era or the corresponding system of rocks marked by the formation of high mountains (such as the Alps, Caucasus, and Himalayas) and the dominance of mammals on land — see Geologic Time Table
3a
: involving or resulting from the substitution of three atoms or groups
a tertiary salt tertiary amine
b
: being or containing a carbon atom having bonds to three other carbon atoms
an acid containing a tertiary carbon tertiary alcohols
4
: occurring in or being a third stage: such as
a
: being or relating to the recovery of oil and gas from old wells by means of the underground application of heat and chemicals
b
: being or relating to the purification of wastewater by removal of fine particles, nitrates, and phosphates
tertiary
noun
plural tertiaries
Definition of tertiary (Entry 2 of 2)
1
[ Medieval Latin tertiarius, from Latin, of a third ]
: a member of a monastic third order especially of lay people
Examples of tertiary in a Sentence
Adjective
Bill Clinton … has passed through the tertiary and quaternary stages and is well on his way to millenary integrity. — Cullen Murphy, Atlantic, January/February 2003 A tertiary care doctor at a cushy academic medical center, a plastic surgeon, and a dentist in a Pleasantville suburb don't spend much time taking care of poor patients who lack basic insurance. — Siddhartha Mukherjee, New Republic, 17 Sept. 2001 The most learned philosopher knew little more. He had partially unveiled the face of Nature, but her immortal lineaments were still a wonder and a mystery. He might dissect, anatomise, and give names; but, not to speak of a final cause, causes in their secondary and tertiary grades were utterly unknown to him. — Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, Frankenstein, 1818 Headaches often occur during the tertiary stage of the illness.
Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective
Local media estimated that as many as 10,000 students from some 200 secondary and tertiary institutions were joining the class boycott, which was co-organized with two student groups. — Time Staff, Time, "Students Boycott Classes on the First Day of the School Year in Hong Kong's Latest Democracy Protest," 2 Sep. 2019 Extremely rapid growth in energy consumption Air conditioning represents an increasingly large proportion of electricity consumption in the building sector, both residential and tertiary. — Carine Sebi, Quartz, "How to cool your home without warming the planet," 27 Aug. 2019 One in nine Africans with a tertiary qualification lives in an OECD country, compared with one in 13 Latin Americans and one in 30 Asians. — The Economist, "A booming population is putting strain on Africa’s universities," 8 Aug. 2019 The regulators moved quickly Wednesday to quash any questions related to any of the future licensure requirements that also are under consideration, such as changes to the rules for tertiary programs. — Christine Sexton, sun-sentinel.com, "Florida regulators float new rules in hospital wars," 5 July 2019 However, club-level artists often still play shows in tertiary markets - that is, if there's a large club-sized venue in that market. — Matt Wake, al.com, "Planned Huntsville music venue postpones shows," 20 June 2019 The show’s format presents songwriters as tertiary to the pop stars and producers who will record the songs; everything is done in ruthless service of the star and the hit. — Carrie Battan, The New Yorker, "How “Songland” Tries and Fails to Honor the Songwriter," 11 June 2019 The coalition also is a good example of how the craft-brewing industry touches a variety of tertiary jobs, that's it’s not just brewers. — Marc Bona, cleveland.com, "Beer Women Rock sets 5th annual fest," 7 June 2019 Secondary and tertiary employment has been generated by marketing and branding of both recreational and medical cannabis, complete with the sale of accessories. — Devangshu Datta, Quartz India, "Legalising cannabis could be one solution to India’s agrarian distress," 30 May 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'tertiary.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for tertiary
tertiary
adjective
English Language Learners Definition of tertiary
formal
: third in order, importance, or value
See the full definition for tertiary in the English Language Learners Dictionary
tertiary
noun
ter·tia·ry
| \ ˈtər-shē-ˌer-ē
, ˈtər-shə-rē
\
, ˈtər-shə-rē
\
plural tertiaries
Medical Definition of tertiary
(Entry 1 of 2)
1
: tertiary color
2
: a lesion of tertiary syphilis
tertiary
adjectiveMedical Definition of tertiary (Entry 2 of 2)
1
: of third rank, importance, or value
2a
: involving or resulting from the substitution of three atoms or groups
a tertiary salt
b
: being or containing a carbon atom having bonds to three other carbon atoms
an acid containing a tertiary carbon
c
: of, relating to, or being the normal folded structure of the coiled chain of a protein or of a DNA or RNA — compare primary entry 1 sense 4, secondary sense 3
3
: occurring in or being a third stage
tertiary lesions of syphilis
4
: providing tertiary care
a tertiary medical center
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