triliteral

English

Etymology

From tri- (“three”) + Latin litera (“letter”) + -al.

Adjective

triliteral (not comparable)

1. Of word roots in Afroasiatic languages: consisting of three letters.
   • 1911 December 13, C. J. Ball, “A Study in Biblical Philology”, in Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archæology, volume XXXIII, number CCXLIX, London: Society of Biblical Archaeology, →OCLC, page 13:

     [T]he philologist may well refuse to accept a body of triliteral roots, developed on a highly artificial and uniform plan, as the ultimate fact in Semitic lexicography.

Noun

triliteral (plural triliterals)

1. A word root in an Afroasiatic language that consists of three letters.

See also

• quadriliteral