triad

English

Etymology

From Latin triad-, stem of trias (“three, triad”), from Ancient Greek τριάς (trias); applied by British authorities to underground society in Hong Kong based on geometry of Chinese character.

Pronunciation

IPA: /tɹaɪ.æd/

Noun

triad (plural triads)

A grouping of three.
(music) A chord consisting of a root tone, the tone two degrees higher, and the tone four degrees higher in a given scale.
(electronics) on a CRT display, a group of three neighbouring phosphor dots, coloured green, red, and blue.
A branch of a Chinese underground criminal society, mostly based in Hong Kong.

Synonyms

(group of three): threesome, trine, trinity, trio, troika, triumvirate

Related terms

triadic

Translations

grouping of three

Finnish: kolmikko (fi)
Galician: tríade (gl) f

Norwegian: trio (no) m, triade (no) m

musical chord

Finnish: kolmisointu (fi)
German: Dreiklang (de) m

Swedish: treklang (sv) c

underground society

Chinese:
Cantonese: 三合會, 三合会, 黑社會, 黑社会

Mandarin: 三合會 (cmn), 三合会 (cmn) (Sānhéhuì), 黑社會 (cmn), 黑社会 (cmn) (Hēishèhuì)
Finnish: triadi (fi)
French: triade (fr) f
German: Triade (de) f

Italian: triade (it) f
Japanese: 三合会 (ja) (さんごうかい, Sangōka)
Korean: 삼합회 (ko) (Samhaphoe)
Russian: триада (ru) (triáda) f
Swedish: triad (sv) c
Vietnamese: Hội Tam Hoàng (vi)