tertian
/'tə:ʃn/
Definition
- Adjective:
- Relating to a musical interval of a major or minor third: In music theory, "tertian" describes harmony or chords constructed by stacking intervals of a third (major or minor).
- Recurring every other day: In medicine, particularly describing fevers (like malaria), "tertian" refers to symptoms or paroxysms that occur every 48 hours (i.e., on the first and third days).
Usage Examples
- Adjective (Music):
- Much of Western classical music is built on tertian harmony.
- The chord is tertian in structure, consisting of a root, third, and fifth.
- Adjective (Medicine):
- The patient was diagnosed with tertian malaria.
- A tertian fever pattern is characteristic of Plasmodium vivax infection.
Advanced Usage
- "Tertian harmony": The standard harmonic system in Western music where chords are built from superimposed thirds.
- Jazz also relies heavily on the principles of tertian harmony.
- "Tertian fever/ague": A specific medical term for a fever with paroxysms recurring at 48-hour intervals.
- The classic description of a tertian fever includes a cold stage, a hot stage, and a sweating stage.
Variants and Related Words
- None: "Tertian" is a specific adjective with no direct noun, verb, or adverb forms. Related terms are contextual:
- In music: Third (n), Triad (n - a basic tertian chord).
- In medicine: Quartan (adj - recurring every 72 hours/third day).
Synonyms
- For the medical sense: Intermittent (when referring to fever patterns), periodic.
- For the musical sense: There is no direct single-word synonym; it is described as "harmony in thirds."
Related Phrases/Idioms
- None: "Tertian" is a technical term and is not commonly used in idiomatic expressions.
Adjective
-
of or relating to a tonal system based on major thirds
-
a tertian tonal system
-
-
relating to symptoms (especially malarial fever) that appear every other day
-
tertian fever
-
