trey

See also: Trey

English

Etymology

PIE word
*tréyes

From Middle English trey, from Anglo-Norman trei or treis, from Old French treis (“three”). Doublet of three and tres.

Pronunciation

• enPR: trā, IPA^(key): /tɹeɪ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Homophones: tray, trait (one pronunciation)
• Rhymes: -eɪ

Noun

trey (plural treys)

1. (card games, occasionally dice games) A playing card or die with the rank of three.
   • 1674, Charles Cotton, chapter 6, in The Compleat Gamester‎, London: R. Cutler, page 81:

     Before you begin the Game at Picket, you must throw out of the Pack the Deuces, Treys, Fours and Fives, and play with the rest of the Cards, which are in number thirty and six.

   • 1929, Dashiell Hammett, chapter 11, in Red Harvest‎:

     He had been a pretty good guy, straight as ace-deuce-trey-four-five, till he got on the force.

   • 1948 January 1, “Deck of Cards” (track 20), in Famous Country Music Makers‎, performed by Tex Ritter:

     You see, Sir, when I look at the Ace it reminds me that there is but one God. The deuce reminds me that the bible is divided into two parts; the Old and New Testaments. And when I see the trey I think of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

   • 1982, Stephen King, The Man Who Would Not Shake Hands:

     Davidson had caught a trey which did not seem to improve his hand, yet he threw three dollars into the pot.

2. (card games, dice games, dominoes) A score of three in cards, dice, or dominoes.
3. (US, Canada, basketball, informal, obsolete) A three-pointer.
4. (Australia, informal) A three penny coin; a thrippence.
5. (informal) The third bearer of the same personal name in a family, often denoted by suffixed Roman numeral III.
6. The third branch of a deer's antler.

Coordinate terms

• (dice) ace, deuce, cater, cinque, sice

Related terms

• tray-trip

Translations

playing card

Bulgarian: тройка (bg) f (trojka) Finnish: kolmonen (fi) Ido: trio (io) Japanese: トレイ (torei) Macedonian: тро́јка f (trójka) Portuguese: terno (pt) m, três (pt) Swedish: trea (sv) c

score

Finnish: kolmonen (fi) Japanese: トレイ (torei) Polish: dryja (pl) f

References

• Weisenberg, Michael (2000) The Official Dictionary of Poker. MGI/Mike Caro University. →ISBN

Anagrams

• tyre, reyt, tyer, Tyer, Tyre, trye

Middle English

Etymology 1

Inherited from Anglian Old English trēġ (West Saxon trīeġ), from Proto-West Germanic *trauj-, the oblique stem of Proto-West Germanic *trawi, from Proto-Germanic *trawją.

Alternative forms

• tray

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /træi̯/

Noun

trey (plural treyes)

1. A tray; a board with a low rim.
2. A unit of measure of approximately 12 bushels.

Descendants

• English: tray
• Middle Scots: trey, tray
  • Scots: tray

References

• “trei, n.(2)”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Anglo-Norman treis (“three”), from Latin trēs, from Proto-Italic *trēs, from Proto-Indo-European *tréyes. Doublet of thre (“three”).

Alternative forms

• trais, tray, treis, treys, treyse

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /træi̯/, /træi̯s/

Noun

trey (uncountable)

1. Trey; the number three on dice.

Descendants

• English: trey

References

• “trei, n.(3)”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.