triad

[trahy-ad, -uhd]

noun

1. a group of three, especially of three closely related persons or things.

2. Chemistry.

   1. an element, atom, or group having a valence of three.

   2. a group of three closely related compounds or elements, as isomers or halides.

3. Music.,  a chord of three tones, especially one consisting of a given tone with its major or minor third and its perfect, augmented, or diminished fifth.

4. Military.,  Triad, the three categories of delivery systems for strategic nuclear weapons, namely bombers, land-based missiles, and missile-firing submarines.

   The report says this missile is required in order to sustain an effective air leg of the Triad.

triad

¹

/ ˈtraɪæd /

noun

1. a group of three; trio

2. chem an atom, element, group, or ion that has a valency of three

3. music a three-note chord consisting of a note and the third and fifth above it

4. an aphoristic literary form used in medieval Welsh and Irish literature

5. the US strategic nuclear force, consisting of intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine-launched ballistic missiles, and bombers

Triad

²

/ ˈtraɪæd /

noun

1. any of several Chinese secret societies, esp one involved in criminal activities, such as drug trafficking

Other Word Forms

• triadic adjective
• triadism noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of triad¹

First recorded in 1540–50; from Latin triad- (stem of trias ), from Greek triás; tri-, -ad ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of triad¹

C16: from Late Latin trias , from Greek; related to Greek treis three

Example Sentences

And Northrop Grumman, maker of the B-21 Raider bomber and Sentinel ICBM, two legs of America’s “modernized” nuclear triad, has seen its shares increase by more than 1,400%.

From Salon

Negative partisanship, echo chambers, the dark triad, propaganda, pathocracy and political sadism are just a few.

From Salon

During the 2016 election, he had no idea what the nuclear triad was in one of the presidential debates, and once said, "Let it be an arms race. We will outmatch them at every pass and outlast them all."

From Salon

Each authoritarian leader is different, bound only by their anti-liberalism, Dark Triad traits and their celebration as the ringleader of a populist circus.

From Salon

“To the classic epidemiologic triad of agent, host and environment, tuberculosis adds the category of Health Services,” wrote Victor W. Sidel, Ernest Drucker and Steven C. Martin in a 1993 paper with a focus on NYC, where crowding, inequality and poor socioeconomic conditions had set off a resurgence of TB.

From Salon

Related Words

• triumvirate