tierce meaning (obsolete): definition, etymology and quotations

tierce

noun

UK /ˈtɪəs/ · US /ˈtɪɚs/

Etymology From Old French tierce, from Latin tertia.

8 senses

Catholicism, Christianity, Roman Catholicism, Lifestyle, Religion Synonym of terce: the third canonical hour or its service.

Historical A cask of a certain size, or its volume used as a measure of capacity. Larger than a barrel but smaller than a hogshead.

He then gave me a large piece of silver coin, such as I never had seen or had before, and told me to get ready for the voyage, and he would credit me with a tierce of sugar, and another of rum […].1789, Olaudah Equiano, chapter 6, in The Interesting Narrative, volume I:
Have an eye to the molasses tierce, Mr. Stubb; it was a little leaky, I thought.1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “chapter 22”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC:

1 more example

Again, by 28 Hen. VIII, cap. 14, it is re-enacted that the tun of wine should contain 252 gallons, a butt of Malmsey 126 gallons, a pipe 126 gallons, a tercian or puncheon 84 gallons, a hogshead 63 gallons, a tierce 41 gallons, a barrel 31.5 gallons, a rundlet 18.5 gallons.1882, James Edwin Thorold Rogers, A History of Agriculture and Prices in England, page 205:

Entertainment, Lifestyle, Music The third tone of the scale. See mediant.

Card games, Games A sequence of three playing cards of the same suit. Tierce of ace, king and queen is called tierce-major.

Fencing, Government, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Martial arts, Military, Politics, Sports, War The third defensive position, with the sword hand held at waist height, and the tip of the sword at head height.

[W]e behold two men with lion-look, with alert attitude, side foremost, right foot advanced; flourishing and thrusting, stoccado and passado, in tierce and quart; intent to skewer one another.1837, Thomas Carlyle, The French Revolution: A History […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Chapman and Hall, →OCLC, (please specify the book or page number):

Government, Heraldry, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Monarchy, Nobility, Politics An ordinary that covers the left or right third of the field of a shield or flag.

Obsolete One sixtieth of a second, i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system. (Also known as a third.)