Trinity
/ˈtrɪnɪti/noun
The state or quality of being three; especially the Christian doctrine of one God in three persons.
Did you know?English got Trinity through Latin *trinitas*, a church word built from *trinus* (“three each”); the concept became one of Christianity’s most mysterious and heavily debated sacred formulas.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*tréyes
“three”
Latin
Latin
trēs
“three”
Latin
Latin
trinus
“threefold; three each”
Late Latin
Latin
trinitās
“threeness; the Trinity”
Old French
Old French
trinité
“the Trinity”
Middle English
English
trinite
“the Trinity; the state of being three”
Modern English
English
trinity
“the doctrine or state of three in one”