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tertiary

tertiary

1 5.4
A third level in a system, often higher education
  • noun
  • /ˈtɜrʃiˌɛri/
translation icon : terciario
  • The university offers a variety of programs for tertiary students looking to specialize in different fields.
  • primary, secondary, and tertiary
  • tertiary vs. primary
  • tertiary care

Examples

  • In many countries, access to tertiary education has greatly increased over the last few decades.

  • RTI is represented graphically by a pyramid shape with three levels or tiers: universal, secondary, and tertiary.

    Academic text (2011)
  • However, in nearly all studies, such results were reported as secondary or tertiary.

    Academic text (2015)
  • Going abroad for tertiary education in those days was a expensive proposition.

  • Prevention has been classified into three types: primary, secondary, and tertiary.

    Academic text (1995)
  • Public tertiary care hospitals are the main health-care providers, and most patients access these hospitals even for common illnesses.

    Academic text (2016)
  • After preschool, you attend elementary, secondary, tertiary, graduate school, and post-graduate school.

    Blog text (16)
  • Before the introduction of JAMB, each tertiary institution carried out its own admission process in its entirety.

    Academic text (2006)
  • Prevention efforts may be primary, secondary, or tertiary (Kazdin, 1996).

    Academic text (1999)
  • After completing secondary school, he enrolled in a tertiary institution to pursue his degree.

Antonyms

2.5

Being most important or basic

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 singular
tertiaries plural

Morphology

tertiary = third (transparent) = terti + ary

Used as a noun to indicate a third level or stage, the formation is transparently the adjectival/nominal use of 'terti-' + '-ary'.

Etymology

Tertiary comes from the Latin tertius, meaning 'third', and as a noun it means a 'third' level or stage in a system. So a tertiary can be the third part of education after primary and secondary, or any third part in a sequence.