three

three — number

1. the number that comes after two and before four; shown as the numeral 3.

1.numberA1
Definition

the number that comes after two and before four; shown as the numeral 3.

Example

Sophia has three cats and a rescue dog named Coco.

There are three apples on the kitchen table.

existential construction: there are + number + plural noun

Common collocations
  • three times
  • three years old
  • three o'clock
  • group of three
  • in threes

Usage Note

In informal spoken English, people often shorten 'three years old' to just 'three' — for example, 'My daughter is three.'

Common Mistakes

I have tree cats.
I have three cats.
'three' starts with the 'th' sound /θ/, not the 'tr' sound /tr/.
She is on page three.
She is on the third page.
'third' is the ordinal form used for position in a sequence.
Idioms

in threes

idiom

happening or appearing three at a time; in groups of three.

Bad luck often seems to come in threes — first the car broke down, then Ingrid lost her phone, and now the power is out.

the three Rs

idiom

reading, writing, and arithmetic, considered the basic skills that every child should learn at school.

The school places a strong emphasis on the three Rs in the early years of primary education.

in twos and threes

idiom

Happening with small groups of two or three people at a time.

The guests arrived in twos and threes throughout the evening.

Did you see the students leaving in twos and threes after class?

three — noun

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All three terms refer to a basketball shot worth three points. 'Three' is the shortest and most casual form — commonly heard in live commentary and everyday conversation among fans ('He hit a three at the buzzer'). 'Three-pointer' is the standard noun in written sports reporting and retains a semi-formal tone suitable for news articles or game summaries. 'Three-point shot' focuses more on the action or the type of attempt than on the result. A coach might say 'Look for the three-point shot' to describe a strategy, while a commentator would say 'He made the three' to announce the result. All three are interchangeable in most contexts, but learners should use 'three-pointer' or 'three-point shot' in formal writing.

three ↗three-pointerthree-point shot

Common collocations

Phrases

  • in groups of three

Prepositions

Etymology

Proto-Indo-EuropeanProto-GermanicOld EnglishEnglish

The word 'three' comes from Old English 'þrīe', which can be traced back through Proto-Germanic '*þrīz' to the ancient Proto-Indo-European root '*tréyes'. This same root gave rise to the word for three in many languages across Europe and Asia, such as Latin 'trēs', Greek 'τρεῖς' (treis), and Sanskrit 'त्रि' (tri). The basic shape of the word has stayed remarkably stable for thousands of years.