| tierce | 1. A cask whose content is one third of a pipe; that is, forty-two wine gallons; also, a liquid measure of forty-two wine, or thirty-five imperial, gallons. 2. A cask larger than a barrel, and smaller than a hogshead or a puncheon, in which salt provisions, rice, etc, are packed for shipment. 3. The third tone of the scale. See Mediant. 4. A sequence of three playing cards of the same suit. Tierce of ace, king, queen, is called tierce-major. 5. A position in thrusting or parrying in which the wrist and nails are turned downward. 6. The third hour of the day, or nine a.m.; one of the canonical hours; also, the service appointed for that hour. Origin: F. Tierce a third, from tiers, tierce, third, fr. L. Tertius the third; akin to tres three. See Third, Three, and cf. Terce, Tercet, Tertiary. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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| tiercelet | <veterinary> The male of various falcons, especially. Of the peregrine; also, the male of the goshawk. Origin: OE. Tercel, tercelet, F. Tiercelet, a dim. Of (assumed) tiercel, or LL. Tertiolus, dim. Fr. L. Tertius the third; so called, according to some, because every third bird in the nest is a male, or, according to others, because the male is the third part less than female. Cf. Tercel. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |