tribrach

English

Etymology 1

PIE word
*tréyes

From the Latin tribrachys, from the Ancient Greek τρῐ́βρᾰχῠς (tríbrakhus), from τρῐ- (tri-, “tri-”) +‎ βρᾰχῠ́ς (brakhús, “short”). Compare the French tribraque.

Alternative forms

• tribracchus [16th C.], tribrack [17th C.], tribrachus [18th C.], tribrachys [18th–19th CC.]
• tribrac

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈtɹaɪbɹæk/, /ˈtɹɪbɹæk/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈtɹʌɪbɹak/, /ˈtɹɪbɹak/

Noun

tribrach (plural tribrachs)

1. (prosody) A metrical foot consisting of three short syllables.
   • 1589, George Puttenham, The Arte of English Poesie, book ii, chapter xiii (Arb.), page 133:

     For your foote tribracchus of all three short, ye haue very few trissillables.

   • 1602, Thomas Campion, chapter IV, in Observations in the Art of English Poesie, page 11:

     We may vse a Spondee or Iambick and sometime a Tribrack or Dactile.

   • [1706, Edward Phillips, compiler, J[ohn] K[ersey the younger], “Tribrachus or Tribrachys”, in The New World of Words: Or, Universal English Dictionary. […], 6th edition, London: […] J. Phillips, […]; N. Rhodes, […]; and J. Taylor, […], →OCLC, column 1:

     Tribrachus or Tribrachys, (Gr[eek]) a Foot in Greek and Latin Verſe, conſiſting of three ſhort Syllables; as Pŏpŭlŭs.]

   • 1827, the Rev’d Canon James Tate, An Introduction to the Principal Greek Tragic and Comic Metres in Scansion, Structure, and Ictus (second edition, 1829), chapter xi: “The Ictus of the long Trochaic of Tragedy”, §5 (page 23):

     Of all the resolved feet, the Tribrach in Trochaic verse with its ictus on the first syllable ⏑́⏑⏑ is most readily recognised by the ear as equivalent to the Trochee.

   • 1866, John Stuart Blackie, Homer and the Iliad, volume I, page 401:

     If the range of pure tribrachic measure, or of tribrachs intermingled with trochees, appears much wider in our song-books than in volumes of poetry written to be read.

   • 1885, Thomas Dwight Goodell, “Quantity in English Verse”, in Transactions of the American Philological Association, XVI, page 88:

     The plain tribrach is frequent in every one’s reading.

Derived terms

• tribrachic

Translations

prosody: metrical foot comprising three short syllables

• French: tribraque (fr) m
• Greek:

  Ancient: τρῐ́βρᾰχῠς m (tríbrakhus)

• Latin: tribrachys m

References

• “Tribrach¹” on page 340/1 of § 1 (Ti–Tz, ed. James Augustus Henry Murray) of part i (Ti–U, 1926) of volume X of A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (1st ed.)

Further reading

• Tribrach (poetry) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Etymology 2

English tri- +‎ Ancient Greek βρᾰχῑ́ων (brakhī́ōn, “arm”)

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈtɹaɪbɹæk/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈtɹʌɪbɹak/

Noun

tribrach (plural tribrachs)

1. A figure or object having three arms or branches.
   1. (archaeology) A tribrachial prehistoric flint implement.
      • 1873, Albert Way, “Notes on an Unique Implement of Flint, Found, as Stated, in the Isle of Wight”, in The Archæological Journal, XXX, page 31:

        In a recent examination of the registers of the Ryde Philosophical Society, Mr. Martin has found, as I have been informed through Mr. Westropp’s kindness, the entry, that the flint tribrach was presented to the collection by the late Dr. Martin in 1853, with other objects from Ventnor, and as having been obtained on the shore at that place.

      • 1897, Sir John Evans, chapter IV, in The Ancient Stone Implements, Weapons and Ornaments of Great Britain, revised second edition, page 78:

        A singular instrument chipped out of flint, like three celts conjoined…, so as to form a sort of tribrach.

   (The addition of quotations indicative of this usage is being sought:) (surveying) A circular platform on three legs, each having levelling screws, used to connect a theodolite to a tripod.

   • 2006, Paul R. Wolf, Charles D. Ghilani, chapter 8, in Elementary Surveying, 11th edition, page 193:

     An optical plummet, built into either the tribrach or alidade of total station instruments, permits accurate centering over a point.

Derived terms

• tribrachial

Translations

figure or object having three arms or branches

archaeology: tribrachial prehistoric flint implement

surveying: circular platform on three legs used to connect a theodolite to a tripod

• Swedish: trefot c

References

• “Tribrach²” on page 340/1 of § 1 (Ti–Tz, ed. James Augustus Henry Murray) of part i (Ti–U, 1926) of volume X of A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (1st ed.)

Further reading

• Tribrach (instrument) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• birch tar