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trinity

trinity

5 6.3
A group of three people or things seen as one unit
  • noun
  • /ˈtrɪnɪti/
translation icon : trinidad
  • This is how we're going to get the traditional Trinity of Father, Son, and Spirit.
  • the holy trinity
  • trinity of race

And there is something about that Trinity, that trio, that triangle that's unshakable.

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Examples

  • The Holy Trinity of cooking, Cajun cooking is you got to have your onion, your celery stalk and your green Peppers.

    GQ
  • One already sees good governance, transparency, and accountability posing as a trinity of synonymous bullet points with particular reference to financial management.

    Academic text (2003)
  • Today I'll use this Trinity, the science engineering technology Trinity, as sort of a theme that we're going to develop through the whole term.

  • So let's start by looking at Jefferson's Trinity of great men.

  • Regarding what you mentioned, the trinity in intimacy is God's design of perfect love.

    Blog text (18)
  • I have my trinity too... diagnosis, prognosis and cure.

  • Yet Martinique belongs to a democratic nation that claims liberty, equality, and fraternity as its holy trinity.

    Academic text (1997)
  • Happiness, health, and love—the trinity to wish in a toast when you can't think of anything else to say.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • Nicholson, Robert De Niro, and Al Pacino were my blessed trinity: they were elegantly alienated, and that's part of what sold them.

    Academic text (2008)
  • The design team created a trinity of colors that worked harmoniously together.

Synonyms

trio
vstrinity
65 2.7

A group of three people who perform together, like musicians

is the general word for any three-part unit beyond performance groups
triad
vstrinity
32 6.1

A group of three people or things seen together

is the more common everyday word compared with this formal label
threesome
vstrinity
14 5.4

A group of three people who act together

is the neutral term for any three-part unit, not limited to people
triplet
vstrinity
4 3.7

A group of three similar things seen as one unit

is broader, used for any three items regarded together
trinary
vstrinity
1 7.4

A group of three people or things

is the basic label for any group of three, not only systems
trine
vstrinity
  • Archaic
1 9.9

A group of three things

is the modern common term for a three-part unit
triunity
vstrinity
9.9

A group of three things joined and treated as one thing

is the common term for a three-part unit rather than a technical state
triplicity
vstrinity
9.9

A group of three things seen or used together

is the usual noun for a concrete group rather than an abstract state

Compounds

5 7.0

A Christian belief that God is three persons in one

1 8.9

A Christian belief that God is three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit

Three persons in one God in Christian belief, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit

Three important gods in Taoism who represent the world and the path to spiritual life

A river in eastern Texas that starts near Dallas and flows southeast to Galveston Bay

The first Sunday after Pentecost when churches celebrate the belief in Father, Son and Holy Spirit

Surface Forms

trinity singular
trinities plural

Morphology

trinity = tri (semi-transparent) = tri + nity

The meaning of 'trinity' as a group of three is clear, but the specific religious or metaphorical connotations may not be immediately obvious.

Etymology

Trinity comes from the simple part tri-, which means 'three', the same bit you find in triangle and triple. It once meant a group of three seen as 'one', so that's why trinity means three things thought of together as a single unit.