sb. Forms: α. 4–8 terse, 6 teyrse, teers, 6–7 tearce, 7 tearse, teirce, teirse, ters, 5–9 terce: see also TERCE. β. 5 tyerce, tyrse, 5–6 tyerse, 6 tyers, tiersse, tiers, tirce, 6–7 tierse, 4– tierce. [a. OF. terce, tierce, fem. of terz, tierz (Roland, 11th c.), later ters, tiers, mod.F. tiers, fem. tierce:—L. tertium, fem. tertiam third.]
† 1. A third part; = THIRD sb. 1. Obs.
1491. Aberdeen Regr. (1844), I. 326. Twa tercis beand defalkyt of þe sade some.
1555. Eden, Decades, 351. Two smaule Ilandes standyng in the xxii degrees and a terce.
1624. Capt. Smith, Virginia, 16. We came to Hatorask in 36. degrees and a terse.
1651. Davenant, Gondibert, I. V. lvi. Four-hundred leaders … And twice the tierce of these consists of those [etc.].
† b. = THIRD sb. 7. Obs. rare–1.
c. 1420. Lydg., Thebes, I. 39. The heauenly mansions Clerely searched, by smale fraccions, First by secondes, terces, and eke quartes.
¶ c. Abbreviated title of the treatise Super Tertium Sententiarum of Alexander Hales. Obs.
1502. Ord. Crysten Men (W. de W., 1506), IV. xxi. 240. It is sacrylege, after mayster Alexander de halis in his tyers.
2. Eccl. a. The third hour of the canonical day, ending at 9 A.M.; also, the period from 9 A.M. till noon. (Cf. PRIME sb.1 1.) Obs. exc. Hist.
c. 1375. Sc. Leg. Saints, xi. (Symon & Iudas), 197. To-morne, or it terse be,… sal cum to þe Messyngeris.
c. 1450. Mirour Saluacioun, 3644. It was bot tierce of the daye ouer ayrly than for drynking.
1483. Caxton, Gold. Leg., 84/2. He … prayd fro tyerce vnto none.
1661. Morgan, Sph. Gentry, IV. iii. 37. Upon St. George’s Even, at the hour of Tierce.
1706. trans. Dupin’s Eccl. Hist. 16th C., II. v. 43. The second [part of the 12 hours] which lasted till Noon, was called Tierce, because it began at the Third Hour of the day.
1844. Lingard, Anglo-Sax. Ch. (1858), I. vii. 272, note. The third of these hours was called undern or terce.
b. (Now usually spelt terce.) The office said at this hour.
c. 1380. Wyclif, Wks. (1880), 41. Late lewid freris seie … for prime, tierce, vndren & noon, for eche of hem seuene pater nostris.
1526. Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W., 1531), 164 b. The chirche … in … the … houres canonicall entendeth to … worshyp at vij tymes in the daye, that is to saye, in matyns, pryme, tierce, sext, none, euensonge & complyn.
1753. Challoner, Cath. Chr. Instr., 212. Terce, Sext, and None, begin with Pater, Ave, &c. and consist each of them of a proper Hymn, and six Divisions of the 118th Psalm.
1853. Dale, trans. Baldeschi’s Ceremonial, 101. The vesting of the Bishop for Terce.
1897. E. Bishop, in Prymer (E.E.T.S.), Introd. 38. The day hours, prime and terce, and sext and none, said in every secular church.
3. Sc. Law. See TERCE.
1754. [see tercer s.v. TERCE, quot. c. 1575].
4. An old measure of capacity equivalent to one third of a pipe (usually 42 gallons old wine measure, but varying for different commodities: cf. PIPE sb.2 2); also a cask or vessel holding this quantity, usually of wine, but also of various kinds of provisions or other goods (e.g., beef, pork, salmon, coffee, honey, sugar, tallow, tobacco); also such a cask with its contents.
1531. Charterparty, in R. G. Marsden, Sel. Pl. Crt. Admir., 36. Accounttyng … ij pipes for a ton iiij hoggeshedds for a ton and vj tercys for a ton.
1531–2. Act 23 Hen. VIII., c. 7 § 5. The butte, tonne, pype … teers, barrell or rondlett.
1538. Elyot, Addit., Hemicadia, vesselles callyd a tierce, halfe a hoggesheed.
1588. Wills & Inv. N. C. (Surtees), II. 180. ix tearces of honeye, at 16l. per tonne, 24l.
1707. Lond. Gaz., No. 4337/4. On Wednesday … will be exposed to Sale … about 400 Hogsheads and 10 Tierces of … French Claret.
1800. Colquhoun, Comm. Thames, iii. 136. Beef and Pork … contained in … Tierces and Barrels.
1825. Gentl. Mag., XCV. I. 216. [Coffee berries] closely packed in tierces for exportation.
1886. Pall Mall G., 19 June, 6/1. The tobacco … comes from abroad … in hogsheads … in what are called tierces (a smaller wooden barrel), and in bales.
† 6. A band or company of soldiers (cf. TERCIO).
1577–87. Holinshed, Chron., III. 1227/1. Foure hundred harquebusiers Spaniards, of the tierse of Sardigna.
1668. Lond. Gaz., No. 237/3. The Leavies of a Terse of Italian Infantry.
6. One of the positions in fencing; the third of the eight parries in sword-play, or the corresponding thrust: see quots. Also fig. (usually in conjunction with carte or quarte). Cf. CARTE2, QUART sb.3 1.
1692. Sir W. Hope, Fencing-Master (ed. 2), 4. When a Man holdeth the Nails of his Sword Hand quite downwards, he is said to hold his hand in Terce.
1707–1878. [see CARTE2].
1779. Sheridan, Critic, III. i. O cursed parry!—that last thrust in tierce Was fatal.
1809, 1889. [see QUART sb.3 1].
1876. Tennyson, Q. Mary, V. v. To reign is restless fence, Tierce, quart and trickery.
7. In piquet and other card games, a sequence of three cards in any suit.
Tierce major, the highest three cards of a suit; tierce minor, the lowest three, i.e., seven, eight, and nine; tierce to a king, queen, etc., a tierce of which the king, queen, etc., is the highest. Cf. QUART3 2, QUINT2 1 b.
1659. Shuffling, Cutting, & Dealing, 3. I have got a good Tearse.
1688. R. Holme, Armoury, III. xvi. (Roxb.), 73/2. A Tierce Major, is the sequence of Queen, King and Ace in Picket, and of Knave, Queene and King in other games.
1765. Sterne, Tr. Shandy, VII. ix. That, Sir, is a terce to a nine in your favour.
1860. Bohn’s Hand-bk. Games, I. 14. Many good players, in playing tierce majors, begin with the king and queen.
1904. M. Hewlett, Queen’s Quair, I. xi. 146. I’ve a terce to my Queen, mistress.
8. Mus. a. The interval of a third (major or minor); the note at this interval above a given note. Now rare or Obs. b. The note two octaves and a major third (= a major 17th) above a fundamental note; hence, a mutation stop in an organ giving tones at this interval above the normal pitch.
Tierce of Picardy (usu. in Fr. form tierce de Picardie), a major third used instead of a minor in the final chord of a piece in a minor key.
1696. Phillips (ed. 5), Tierce,… in Musick, a Concord.
1704. J. Harris, Lex. Techn., I. s.v., If the Terms be as 5 to 4, ’tis called, a Tierce Major, or a Diton; but if the Terms are as 6 to 5, then ’tis called, a Tierce Minor, or Demi-Diton.
1776. Burney, Hist. Mus., I. 138. The two stops of an organ, called the fifteenth and tierce.
1801. Busby, Dict. Mus., Tierce of Picardy.
1879. trans. Du Moncel’s Telephone, 43. Vibrations … in the relation of a tierce major, that is in the relation of four to five.
9. Her. a. A charge composed of three triangles, usually all of different tinctures, arranged in fesse, also in bend. b. The division of a shield by lines into three equal parts: see TIERCÉ, quot. 1883.
[c. 1828. Berry, Encycl. Her., I. Gloss., Tierces, or Tierches,… used by French heralds to express three figures which only take up the space of a fesse, but which are sometimes placed in bend.]
1847. Webster, Tierce … a field divided into three parts.
1894. Parker’s Gloss. Her., Tierce (fr.), a charge occurring in some French arms, consisting of three triangles arranged generally in fesse. There may be two tierces in the same shield.
10. attrib. or as adj. in special collocations: tierce guard, parade: see sense 6; tierce point, Arch. [F. tiers-point], the vertex of an equilateral triangle, or of a pointed arch; tierce rime = TERZA-RIMA; tierce-song, the office of terce (= sense 2 b); cf. undern-song.
1692. Sir W. Hope, Fencing-Master (ed. 2), 116. The *Terce Guard, with the point higher than the Hilt. Ibid., 22. The *Terce Parade, or the Parade without the Sword, because you put by the thrust upon that side which is without your Sword.
1727–41. Chambers, Cycl., Third Point, or Tierce-point.… Arches or vaults of the third point, called by the Italians di terzo acuto, are those consisting of two arches of a circle, meeting in an angle a-top.
1842–76. Gwilt, Encycl. Archit., Gloss., Tierce Point.
1877. Tomlinson (title), A Vision of Hell: The Inferno of Dante translated into English *Tierce Rhyme.
1852. Rock, Ch. of Fathers, III. x. 473. St. Bede died a little after undern-time, or *tierce-song hour.
Hence Tierce v. (in phr. carte or quart and tierce: cf. QUART v.1), intr. to parry or thrust in tierce (in quot. 1833 transf.); in quot. 1765 trans. ? to fence with (or ? as a vague threat).
1765. Foote, Commissary, III. (1782), 65. John, fetch me the foils; I’ll carte and tierce you, you scoundrel.
1833. New Monthly Mag., XXXVIII. 343. He quarts and tierces for twenty minutes, slips, drops, and rolls.
