a. Bot. [f. TRI- 2 + TERNATE a.] Thrice ternate: see quots. (Abbrev. 3-ternate.) Hence Triternately adv.
1760. J. Lee, Introd. Bot., III. vi. (1788), 202. Triternate, or Triplicato-Ternate; when a Petiole bears three Folioles that are each of them ternate.
1835. Lindley, Introd. Bot. (1848), II. 360. Triternate, when the common petiole divides into three secondary petioles, which are each subdivided into three tertiary petioles, each of which bears three leaflets.
1856. A. Gray, Man. Bot. (1860), 20. A large triternately compound leaf.
1870. Hooker, Stud. Flora, 168. Peucedanum officinale; leaves 3-ternately pinnate.
