triad
noun/ˈtraɪæd/
/ˈtraɪæd/
- (formal) a group of three related people or things
- the classic triad of the visual arts: sculpture, architecture and painting
- (also Triad)a Chinese secret organization involved in criminal activity
Word Originmid 16th cent.: from French triade, or via late Latin from Greek trias, triad-, from treis ‘three’. Sense 2 is a translation of Chinese San Ho Hui, literally ‘ three unite society’, i.e. ‘triple union society’, said to mean ‘the union of Heaven, Earth, and Man’.
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