Defn: Possessing some quality in the third degree; having been subjected to the substitution of three atoms or radicals; as, a tertiary alcohol, amine, or salt. Cf. Primary, and Secondary. (CH3)3C.OH.
3. (Geol.)
Defn: Later than, or subsequent to, the Secondary.
4. (Zoöl.)
Defn: Growing on the innermost joint of a bird's wing; tertial; — said of quills. Tertiary age. (Geol.) See under Age, 8. — Tertiary color, a color produced by the mixture of two secondaries. "The so-called tertiary colors are citrine, russet, and olive." Fairholt. — Tertiary period. (Geol.) (a) The first period of the age of mammals, or of the Cenozoic era. (b) The rock formation of that period; — called also Tertiary formation. See the Chart of Geology. — Tertiary syphilis (Med.), the third and last stage of syphilis, in which it invades the bones and internal organs.
TERTIARY
Ter"ti*a*ry, n.; pl. Tertiaries (.
1. (R. C. Ch.)
Defn: A member of the Third Order in any monastic system; as, the Franciscan tertiaries; the Dominican tertiaries; the Carmelite tertiaries. See Third Order, under Third. Addis & Arnold.
2. (Geol.)
Defn: The Tertiary era, period, or formation.