Skip to main content

single word requests - Double is to triple as halve is to ...?


"Divide by three" is the only way I know to say this but I'm looking for a single word, if one exists.



Answer



The OED defines third, verb, as such:



To divide (anything) into three equal parts; to reduce to one third of the number or bulk.



and it gives an example from 1874:



Such a course would have halved or thirded the number of our subscribers.



However, as choster pointed out in a comment, this seems to be rare.


I did an ngrams search which shows the relative changes in halved, thirded over time, and the usage of halved has increased while the usage of thirded has decreased. Similarly, the usage of thrice is also decreasing over time. This suggests to me that you should avoid using the word "thirded" despite it being a recognized usage.


Another answer provides the word "trisect". This word doesn't fit precisely in the collection "quartered, X, halved", but rather goes with "bisect, trisect, quadrisect". These words seem to me to be more technical in nature, used for geometry (e.g. Trisecting the Angle) or other mathematical or scientific contexts. Also, trisect can only be used for the sense "to cut into three equal parts" and not in the sense "to reduce to one third the size".


Interestingly halved is more popular than bisected but tristected is more popular than thirded.


Tl;dr:



  • If you want to fill the "quartered, halved, etc" group, use thirded.

  • If you want language people actually use, just say "cut into thirds" or "divided into three" or something similar.

  • If you need a current, single word, trisected is probably your best bet but it doesn't really fit the pattern nor satisfy all the meanings.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Is there a word/phrase for "unperformant"?

As a software engineer, I need to sometimes describe a piece of code as something that lacks performance or was not written with performance in mind. Example: This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. Based on my Google searches, this isn't a real word. What is the correct way to describe this? EDIT My usage of "performance" here is in regard to speed and efficiency. For example, the better the performance of code the faster the application runs. My question and example target the negative definition, which is in reference to preventing inefficient coding practices. Answer This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. In my opinion, reads more easily as: This coding style leads to unmaintainable and poorly performing code. The key to well-written documentation and reports lies in ease of understanding. Adding poorly understood words such as performant decreases that ease. In addressing the use of such a poorly ...
Post a Comment
Read more

A man has a garden measuring 84 meters by 56 meters. He divides it into the minimum number of square plots. What is the length of the square plots?

We wish to divide this man's garden into the minimum number of square plots possible. A square has all four sides with the same length.Our garden is a rectangle, so the answer is clearly not 1 square plot. If we choose the wrong length for our squares, we may end up with missing holes or we may not be able to fit our squares inside the garden. So we have 84 meters in one direction and 56 meters in the other direction. When we start dividing the garden in square plots, we are "filling" those lengths in their respective directions. At each direction, there must be an integer number of squares (otherwise, we get holes or we leave the garden), so that all the square plots fill up the garden nicely. Thus, our job here is to find the greatest common divisor of 84 and 56. For this, we prime factor both of them: `56 = 2*2*2*7` `84 = 2*2*3*7` We can see that the prime factors and multiplicities in common are `2*2*7 = 28` . This is the desired length of the square plots. If you wi...
Post a Comment
Read more

What warning does Chuchundra issue to Rikki?

Chuchundra, the sniveling, fearful muskrat who creeps around walls because he is too terrified to go into the center of a room, meets Rikki in the middle of the night. He insults Rikki by begging him not to kill him. He then insults him by suggesting that Nag might mistake Chuchundra for Rikki. He says, "Those who kill snakes get killed by snakes."  He issues this warning to Rikki not to help keep Rikki safe but as a way of explaining why Rikki's presence gives him, Chuchundra, more reason to fear.  Chuchundra starts to tell Rikki what Chua the rat told him--but breaks it off when he realizes he might be overheard by Nag. He says, "Nag is everywhere, Rikki-Tikki." Rikki threatens to bite Chuchundra to get him to talk. Even then, Chuchundra won't overtly reveal any information. But he does say, "Can't you hear, Rikki-Tikki?" This is enough of a clue for the clever mongoose. He listens carefully and can just make out the "faintest scratch-s...
Post a Comment
Read more