3️⃣ Third in order 3️⃣ A third level

tertiary

11 6.4

Third in order after the second

adjective
/ˈtɜrʃiˌɛri/

: terciario

Finally, energy use in the domestic and tertiary sectors accounted for 41 percent of total energy use in Europe.
tertiary education
tertiary institutions
tertiary level

And then over time we can have we develop a tertiary layer.

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Examples

Due to the uncertainty of the diagnosis, the patient was referred to a tertiary center for expert opinion.

Academic text (2015)
Implementation occurred at a large tertiary community hospital in North Texas among a targeted group of nurse managers.

Academic text (2015)
It's not the tertiary cooling, either.

Source Code (2011)
In some instances, tertiary efforts can also be focused on supporting teacher behavior.

Academic text (2013)
Many of the students had also accessed tertiary education through non-traditional forms of access.

Academic text (2011)
The Catholic Church, in contrast, has invested heavily in tertiary training of Africans, especially since the early 1980s.

Academic text (1996)
In part, this population may be sicker because Mount Sinai is a tertiary care hospital.

Academic text (1990)
In these respects, it is similar to tertiary education, which employs, respectively, a curriculum, academic disciplines, and a lecturer.

Academic text (2011)
Instead, its economy is distinguished by large secondary (manufacturing) and tertiary (infrastructure and service-related industries) sectors.

Academic text (1992)
After finishing secondary school, she decided to pursue tertiary education at a university.

Synonyms

third

vstertiary

∞ 1.0

Next after the second in order

applies more broadly to rank or level as well as sequence

3rd

vstertiary

556 1.0

Comes next after the second and before the fourth in order

is the word form used for order, rank, or level

tertial

vstertiary

9.9

Third in order or relating to a third part

is mainly about position in order rather than about a part

Antonyms

primary

∞ 2.5

Being most important or basic

secondary

267 3.5

Less important than the main thing or coming after it

Compounds

tertiary syphilis

Specialized

1 9.1

A late serious stage of an infection spread by sex that damages major organs like the brain and heart

Tertiary period

Archaic

8.1

A time about 63 million to 2 million years ago after the Cretaceous and before the Quaternary

Surface Forms

tertiary positive

Morphology

tertiary = third (transparent) = terti + ary

The meaning ('third') is directly conveyed by the combining form 'terti-' plus the adjectival suffix '-ary', so learners who know 'third' can readily infer 'tertiary'.

Etymology

Tertiary comes from the Latin tertius, which means 'third'. So it simply means 'third in order' or the level after the second, which is why we speak of 'tertiary care' or a 'tertiary attempt'.