ter·ti·ar·y (tûr sh - r )adj. 1. Third in place, order, degree, or rank. 2. Of, relating to, or designating the short flight feathers nearest the body on the rear edge of a bird's wing. 3. Chemistry a. Of or relating to salts of acids containing three replaceable hydrogen atoms. b. Of or relating to organic compounds in which a group, such as an alcohol or amine, is bound to three nonelementary radicals. 4. Tertiary Of or belonging to the geologic time, system of rocks, or sedimentary deposits of the first period of the Cenozoic Era, characterized by the appearance of modern flora and of apes and other large mammals. See Table at geologic time. n. pl. ter·ti·ar·ies 1. A tertiary feather. 2. Tertiary The Tertiary Period or its system of deposits. 3. Roman Catholic Church A member of a religious Third Order. [Latin terti  rius, from tertius, third; see trei- in Indo-European roots.] |
tertiary [tur-shar-ee]
Adjective
1. third in degree, order, etc.
2. (of education) at university or college level
3. (of an industry) involving services, such as transport and financial services, as opposed to manufacture [Latin tertius]
Tertiary
Adjective
Geol of the period of geological time lasting from about 65 million years ago to 600 000 years ago
| tertiary (tûrsh-r) Noun Tertiary. The first period of the Cenozoic Era, from about 65 to 2 million years ago. During this time the continents took on their present form, and the climate changed from being warmer and wetter, in the early part of the period, to being drier and cooler in the later part. Mammals replaced dinosaurs as the dominant form of terrestrial animal life, and many modern types of flowering plants, insects, mollusks, fish, amphibians, reptiles, and birds appeared. The Tertiary is subdivided into the Paleogene and the Neogene, although these terms are not as widely used as are the names of the epochs that constitute them. See Chart at geologic time. Adjective 1. a. Relating to or having a carbon atom that is attached to three other carbon atoms in a molecule. b. Relating to an organic molecule, such as an alcohol, in which the functional group is attached to a tertiary carbon. |
ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
| Noun | 1. | Tertiary - from 63 million to 2 million years ago Pliocene, Pliocene epoch - from 13 million to 2 million years ago; growth of mountains; cooling of climate; more and larger mammals Miocene, Miocene epoch - from 25 million to 13 million years ago; appearance of grazing mammals Oligocene, Oligocene epoch - from 40 million to 25 million years ago; appearance of sabertoothed cats Eocene, Eocene epoch - from 58 million to 40 million years ago; presence of modern mammals Paleocene, Paleocene epoch - from 63 million to 58 million years ago; appearance of birds and earliest mammals |
| Adj. | 1. |  tertiary - coming next after the second and just before the fourth in positionordinal - being or denoting a numerical order in a series; "ordinal numbers"; "held an ordinal rank of seventh" |
Translations
tertiary [ˈtəːʃərɪ] adj (gen) → terziario/a;
tertiary education (BRIT) → educazione f superiore post-scolastica
adj tertiary [ˈtəːʃəri]
of or at a third level, degree, stage etc Tertiary education follows secondary education. tersiêr ثُلاثي третичен terciární tredje- tertiär τριτοβάθμιος terciario kolmanda astme سومین؛ ثالث kolmannen asteen tertiaire שְׁלִישִי तीसरी श्रेणी का tercijaran, koji pripada trećem redu harmadfokú; felsőfkú tingkat tiga þriðja stigs terziario 第３次[]の 제3(위)의 trečio laipsnio, trečios pakopos trešās pakāpes- tinggi tertiair i tredje rekke, tertiær- trzeciorzędny, trzeciego stopnia terciário superior; terţiar третьеступенчатый terciárny tretjestopenjski tercijalan som kommer i tredje hand, tertiär ลำดับที่สาม üçüncü derecede/sırada olan 第三的, 第三級的 третинний تيسرے درجے کا thứ ba 第三的, 第三级的
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