Origin and history of Third World

something indeterminate between two other things, 1724, Latin, literally "third something," from tertius "third, a third,...The Latin word also figures in phrases tertium non datur "no third possibility exists," and tertius gaudens "a third party...

old unit of liquid measure equal to one-third of a pipe (42 gallons), 1530s, from Anglo-French ters, Old French tierce (11c....). used in the sense "one-third" in various ways, from Latin tertia, fem. of tertius "a third," from PIE *tri-tyo-, from...Also used in Middle English for "a third part" (late 15c.), "the third hour of the canonical day" (ending at 9 a.m.), late...

1650s, "of the third order, rank, degree, etc.," from Latin tertiarius "of or pertaining to a third," from tertius "third..., a third," from root of tres "three" (see three)....

The Society Islands were named 1769 by Cook on his third Pacific voyage in honor of the Royal Society, which financed his...travels across the world to observe the transit of Venus....

But it now is the third-most-common initial letter in the English vocabulary, and with C and S comprises nearly a third of...Navy World War II PT boat (1942) stands for patrol torpedo....

"period during which a historical person's life work was done," 1843, Latin, literally "he flourished," third person singular...The third person singular present subjunctive of the verb, floreat, sometimes is attached to proper names "to indicate the...

a British soldier's informal and (usually) affectionate term for "Britain" or "England," popularized in World War I but attested...an' he never says a word,       Thats a specimen o' a'Johnnie whan he joins the Ninety-Third...

"next in order after the second; an ordinal numeral; being one of three equal parts into which a whole is regarded as divided;" late Old English metathesis of þridda, from Proto-Germanic *thridja- (source also of Old Frisian thredda, Old Saxon thriddio, Middle Low German drudde,

early 13c., "rank, standing, condition," from Anglo-French astat, Old French estat "state, position, condition, health, status, legal estate" (13c., Modern French état), from Latin status "state or condition, position, place; social position of the aristocracy," from PIE root *st

Old English fyrst "foremost, going before all others; chief, principal," also (though rarely) as an adverb, "at first, originally," superlative of fore; from Proto-Germanic *furista- "foremost" (source also of Old Saxon fuirst "first," Old High German furist, Old Norse fyrstr, Da