From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Tertiary \Ter"ti*a*ry\, a. [L. tertiarius containing a third
part, fr. tertius third: cf. F. tertiaire. See {Tierce}.]
1. Being of the third formation, order, or rank; third; as, a
tertiary use of a word. --Trench.
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2. (Chem.) Possessing some quality in the third degree;
having been subjected to the substitution of three atoms
or radicals; as, a tertiary alcohol, amine, or salt. Cf.
{Primary}, and {Secondary}.
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3. (Geol.) Later than, or subsequent to, the Secondary.
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4. (Zool.) Growing on the innermost joint of a bird's wing;
tertial; -- said of quills.
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{Tertiary age}. (Geol.) See under {Age}, 8.
{Tertiary color}, a color produced by the mixture of two
secondaries. "The so-called tertiary colors are citrine,
russet, and olive." --Fairholt.
{Tertiary period}. (Geol.)
(a) The first period of the age of mammals, or of the
Cenozoic era.
(b) The rock formation of that period; -- called also
{Tertiary formation}. See the Chart of {Geology}.
{Tertiary syphilis} (Med.), the third and last stage of
syphilis, in which it invades the bones and internal
organs.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Tertiary \Ter"ti*a*ry\, n.; pl. {Tertiaries}.
1. (R. C. Ch.) A member of the Third Order in any monastic
system; as, the Franciscan tertiaries; the Dominican
tertiaries; the Carmelite tertiaries. See {Third Order},
under {Third}. --Addis & Arnold.
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2. (Geol.) The Tertiary era, period, or formation.
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3. (Zool.) One of the quill feathers which are borne upon the
basal joint of the wing of a bird. See Illust. of {Bird}.
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From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
tertiary
adj 1: coming next after the second and just before the fourth
in position [syn: {third}, {3rd}, {tertiary}]
n 1: from 63 million to 2 million years ago [syn: {Tertiary},
{Tertiary period}]
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