DICT.TW Dictionary Taiwan

 Ter·ti·a·ry a.
 1. Being of the third formation, order, or rank; third; as, a tertiary use of a word.
 2. Chem. Possessing some quality in the third degree; having been subjected to the substitution of three atoms or radicals; as, a tertiary alcohol, amine, or salt.  Cf. Primary, and Secondary.
 3. Geol. Later than, or subsequent to, the Secondary.
 4. Zool. Growing on the innermost joint of a bird's wing; tertial; -- said of quills.
 Tertiary age. Geol. See under Age, 8.
 Tertiary color, a color produced by the mixture of two secondaries. “The so-called tertiary colors are =\citrine, russet, and olive.”\= --Fairholt.
 Tertiary period. Geol. (a) The first period of the age of mammals, or of the Cenozoic era. (b) The rock formation of that period; -- called also Tertiary formation. See the Chart of Geology.
 Tertiary syphilis Med., the third and last stage of syphilis, in which it invades the bones and internal organs.

 Tertiary period
      n : from 63 million to 2 million years ago [syn: Tertiary]