tertiaryyoudaoicibaDictYouDict[tertiary 词源字典]
tertiary: see third
[tertiary etymology, tertiary origin, 英语词源]
tertiary (adj.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
1650s, "of the third order, rank, degree, etc.," from Latin tertiarius "of or pertaining to a third," from tertius "third, a third," from root of tres "three" (see three). The geological sense (with capital T-) of "era after the Mesozoic" (which formerly was called the Secondary) is attested from 1794, after Italian terziari, used in this sense 1760 by Italian geologist Giovanni Arduino (1714-1795).