tercio

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noun

Any of the three stages of a bullfight: the vara, the banderilla and finally the death.

OriginSpanish tercio ← Latin tertiu ← Proto-Italic *tritios →
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Meanings

nountercio (plural tercios)

plural tercios

  1. bullfightingAny of the three stages of a bullfight: the vara, the banderilla and finally the death.
  2. governmentA mutually supportive infantry formation made up of pikemen, swordsmen and arquebusiers or musketeers.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*tréyes
  2. Proto-Indo-European*tri-
  3. Proto-Indo-European*tritós
  4. Proto-Italic*tritios
  5. Latintertiu
  6. Spanishtercio
  7. Englishtercio

Borrowed from Spanish tercio.

More words from Spanish

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

erotic
Cite this entry
APA

tercio. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tercio

MLA

“tercio.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tercio. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tercio,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tercio.

Source: tercio on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.