Meanings
nountertial (plural tertials)
plural tertials
- biologyAny flight feather attached to the humerus (upper arm) of a bird.
He continues — "There was the same rear up, with the head bent down, followed by an upjerk of the hind parts; the long sickle-shaped tertials, so noticeable in this species, seemed little if at all expanded, […]
1923, Arthur Cleveland Bent, Life Histories of North American Birds: Wild Fowl, page 76
Synonyms & antonyms
Also see
Origin
- Latintertius“third”
- Englishtertial
From Latin tertius (“third”); the tertial feathers are the third row of feathers. By surface analysis, terti- + -al.
More words from Latin
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Rhymes with tertial
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Cite this entry
APA
tertial. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tertial
MLA
“tertial.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tertial. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tertial,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tertial.
Source: tertial on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.