trinity
(ˈtrɪnɪtɪ)
Forms: 3–6 trinite, -yte, (4 trinte, 4–6 trynite, -yte, 5 trynete), 4 trini-, tryni-, 5 trynytee; 4–5 trenite, (4 -ete, 4–6 -yte, 6 -eti, -etee, -ytie); 4–6 trynitie, 6 triniti, 6–7 trinitie, 6– trinity. Also β. 5 ternyte, 6 ternitie.
[a. OF. trinite (in 11th c. trinitiet, -itet), also trinetei, trenite, ternite (= Pr., Sp. trinidad, Pg. trindade, It. trinità):—L. trīnitāt-em (nom. trīnitās) ‘a triad, a trio’, in Christian use from Tertullian (195–220), f. trīnus: see trine. Also in other langs. from L., e.g. Ir. trionnoid, Gael. trionaid, Welsh trindod; Ger. trinität.
L. trīnitās in Christian use rendered Gr. τριάς, used in this sense by Theophilus of Antioch, fl. 180, and by Clement of Alexandria, c 150–212. After Tertullian (Adv. Prax. xxv.) L. trīnitās is used by Cyprian, Hilary, Marius Victorinus, Priscillian, Jerome, Augustine, and others.]
1. The state of being threefold, threefoldness, threeness. a. in non-theological sense.
| ? c 1425 Lucidarie vi. (1909) 6 Nyne ordres of aungels..Whi nyne of angels? For þe trynyte þat is in hem in þe nombre of nyne, þat is þries þre. 1850 Robertson Serm. Ser. iii. iv. (1872) 52 It is a trinity—a division in the mind of God. |
b. spec. in theological use: applied to the existence of one God in three persons. (In early use
esp. in
phr. ‘God in trinity’,
i.e. in threeness.)
| a 1300 Cursor M. 2708 Toward him com childir thre, Liknes o god in trinité. c 1320 R. Brunne Medit. 1 Alle myȝty god yn trynyte, Now & euer wyþ vs be. c 1400 Ywaine & Gaw. 2205 Thorgh grace of god in trenyte, I sal the wreke of tham al thre. c 1450 Merlin i. 8 Belevest thow not in the fadir, sone, and holy goste, and that these thre persones be oon god in trynite? 1548–9 (Mar.) Bk. Com. Prayer, Athanasian Creed, So that..the vnitie in trinitie, and the trinitie in vnitie, is to be wurshipped. 1673 Milton True Relig. Wks. 1851 V. 410 For terms of Trinity, Tri⁓unity, Co-essentiality, Tripersonality, and the like, they reject them as Scholastic Notions, not to be found in Scripture. 1719 Waterland Vind. Christ's Div. xxii. 336 As to Those who take Trinity and Tritheism for Synonymous Terms, They may go on to value Themselves upon it. 1907 Sanday Life Christ in Rec. Research v. ix. 232 The doctrine of the Trinity is essentially a doctrine of Trinity in Unity. The basal truth is that God is one. |
2. a. The three ‘persons’ or modes of being of the Godhead as conceived in orthodox Christian belief; the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as constituting one God; the triune God. (Now always with capital T; often
the Holy Trinity,
the Blessed Trinity.)
(There is possibly an instance of an early form
trineteð = ONF. trinitet, in Layamon 29533; but both
MSS. are defective, one reading merely
ðes nome, and the other{ddd}
nete his name (the rest being burnt).)
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 26 Ȝette me ham, holi þrumnesse Trinite, iþe wurðschipe of þe. a 1300 Cursor M. 129 (Gött.) Þat es, þe haly trinite, Þat all has wroght wit his beute. 1390 Gower Conf. III. 87 The hihe almyhti Trinite, Which is o god in unite. c 1450 Lydg. Merita Missæ 46 in Lay Folks Mass Bk. App. v. 149 Wershipe Ewyr the Ternyte. 1516 in Acts Parlt. Scotl. (1875) XII. 37/1 Ȝoure hienes..quhais grace..the trinite have in his blissit keping. 1587 Golding De Mornay xxxiv. (1592) 552 The Kingdome whose king is the Trinitie, whose Lawe is Charitie, and whose measure is eternitie. 1677 Gale Crt. Gentiles II. iii. 48, I shal not denie but that these blind heathens..might have some..imperfect traditions concerning a Trinitie. 1827 Heber Hymn, ‘Holy, holy, holy’ i, God in three Persons, blessed Trinity! 1849 R. I. Wilberforce Doctr. Holy Bapt. (1850) 18 It was the Second, not the Third Person of the Ever-blessed Trinity who became the Incarnate Mediator. |
b. A symbolical figure representing the three persons of the Godhead.
| 1496–7 Rec. St. Mary at Hill 33 Item, a gylt Table of the Trynete, for to sett on the high Aulter. 1503–4 Ibid. 252 Payd to the glassyng of þe gret vynddow vythe þe Trenyte in the southe yell [= aisle]. [c 1828 Berry Encycl. Her. I. Gloss., Trinity, the heraldic device for the representation thereof is composed of roundles and lines.] |
c. ellipt. The festival of the Holy Trinity; Trinity Sunday (see 6).
| [1215–30 S. Osmundi Consuet. xxi. 4 in Reg. S. Osmund (Rolls) I. 38 Festum Sanctæ Trinitatis.] c 1290 St. Brendan 229 in S. Eng. Leg. I. 225 Þo com atte trinite þis gode man. 13.. Guy Warw. (A.) 705 It was at þe holy trinite, Þerl dubbed sir Gij þe fre. 1624 Laud Diary 6 June, Second Sunday after Trinity, I preached at Westminster. 1911 [see Trinity Sunday, sense 6]. 1981 Barton & Halliburton in Believing in Church iv. 90 From Trinity to Advent a series of historiae is appointed [to be read]. |
3. Any combination or set of three (persons, beings, things, principles, etc.) forming a unity, or closely connected; a trial, trio.
| 1542 St. Papers Hen. VIII, IX. 251 We might ones be joyned to gidre in a ternitie, as the Pope thEmpereur and the King of Portugal be. 1633 G. Herbert Temple, Starre v, Then with our trinitie of light, Motion, and heat, let's take our flight. 1694 F. Bragge Disc. Parables iii. 84 The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life;..that Trinity which the generality of men adore. a 1711 Ken Hymns Festiv. Poet. Wks. 1721 I. 268 Thus coalesce in sacred Lays, A Trinity, Love, Joy, and Praise. 1883 W. Binns in Chr. Globe 13 Sept. 823/2 Siva, the destroying deity of the Indian trinity. 1906 Petrie Relig. Anc. Egypt xii. 79 The formal theology of the schools which grouped gods together in trinities or enneads. |
4. In full,
herb trinity (
med.L.
herba Trinitatis): an old name for
a. the heart's-ease or pansy,
Viola tricolor, from the three colours of the flower;
b. Anemone Hepatica, from the three-lobed leaf.
| 1597 Gerarde Herbal i. ccxcix. 703 Harts ease is named..of others Herba Trinitatis or Herbe Trinitie, by reason of the triple colour of the flowers. Ibid. ii. ccclxxxvii. 1032 Noble Liuerwoort is called Hepatica trifolia,..and Herbe Trinitie. a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Hearts-ease,..an Herb called by some the Trinity,..or Pansies. 1864 N. & Q. 3rd Ser. V. 60/2 The well known name of Herb Trinity given to the Anemone hepatica. |
5. Colloquial abbreviation for
Trinity College.
| 1757 Gray Let. 17 Apr., The Duke of Bedford is now here [Cambridge] to settle his son at Trinity. c 1765 ― Satire 11 The Master of Trinity To him bears affinity. 1874 K. H. Digby Temple of Memory iii. 39 To Cambridge he is gone..with comrades three, Bound like himself for Trinity. 1933 D. L. Sayers Murder must Advertise i. 12 ‘He was at Trinity. Your Trinity, I mean, not ours.’ (Mr. Hankin was a Cambridge man.) 1982 M. Young Elmhirsts of Dartington ii. 20 He became a ‘Trinity man’ expected to assume a definite character..to distinguish him from King's men or Christ's men or John's men. |
6. attrib. Dedicated to or connected with the worship of the Holy Trinity, as
Trinity aisle,
Trinity altar,
Trinity guild,
Trinity light; bearing a figure or symbol of the Trinity, as
Trinity ring,
Trinity window; occurring (blossoming, etc.) about the season of Trinity Sunday (see below), as
Trinity fair,
Trinity honeysuckle,
Trinity tide; belonging to or connected with the Trinity House (see below), as
Trinity Brethren (
n. pl.),
Trinity Corporation,
Trinity due,
Trinity high-water mark,
Trinity man,
Trinity pilot,
Trinity standard,
Trinity waterman,
Trinity yacht; also
† trinity grass, an old name for some species of trefoil;
trinity-herb = herb trinity (see 4 a);
Trinity House, shortened title of a guild or fraternity originally established at Deptford, incorporated in the reign of Henry VIII, formerly having the official regulation of British shipping, and now chiefly concerned with the licensing of pilots and the erection and maintenance of lighthouses, buoys, and other aids to navigation, on the coasts of England and Wales;
Trinity Monday (
rare), the day after Trinity Sunday;
Trinity Sunday, the Sunday next after Whit-Sunday, observed as a festival in honour of the Trinity;
Trinity term, the fourth of the terms or sessions of the High Court of Justice in England: see
term n. 5; since 1873 called officially
Trinity Sittings, and now beginning on the Tuesday following Trinity Sunday; also one of the university terms, which at Oxford is continuous with Easter term, the two being reckoned for most purposes as one.
| 1579 in Cranage Churches Shropsh. (1912) II. 945 Towards the reparations of the wyndoo in the *triniti ylle [= aisle]. |
| 1536 in Luton Trinity Guild (1906) 214 Item payd to the paynter for makynge of a border for the *trenyte awter..6s. |
| 1860 Coote Admiralty Practice 59 The Court will direct the attendance of the *Trinity Brethren to be written for. |
| Ibid., The Court is assisted by two elder Brethren of the *Trinity Corporation at the hearing of every suit for collisions. |
| 1783 in Late Meas. Ship-Owners in Coal-Trade (1786) 63 *Trinity dues per Cocket. |
| 1507 in Charters &c. Edinb. (1871) 191 Thair said *Trinite faires yeirlie to begin on the Monninday next eftir Trinitie Sonday. |
| 1545 Elyot, Lagopus, an herbe of the kynd of trefoyles called *trinitie grasse. 1657 C. Beck Univ. Char. L viij, Trinity grass or hare-foot. |
| 1423 Coventry Leet Bk. 47 The brethren and systren of the *Trinyte guylde of Couentre. |
| 1566 Act 8 Eliz. c. 13 §1 The..Mayster Wardens and Assistauntes of the *Trinytie Howse..shall..set up suche..Beakons, Markes and Signes for the Sea..as to them shall seeme moost meete. a 1642 Sir W. Monson Naval Tracts iii. (1704) 339/1 A Master is to be chosen by the Trinity-House. 1842 Queen Victoria Jrnl. 29 Apr. (1980) 17 The Trinity-House steamer goes with us. 1979 Bull. Yorks. Dial. Soc. Summer 9 The station at the time was controlled by the Hull Trinity House. |
| 1534 in Luton Trinity Guild (1906) 208 Item payd for xij li. wex for y⊇ *trenytie lyght..6s. |
| 1698–9 Act 11 Will. III, c. 21 §2 Every Person..who..shall be employed in..navigating any Lighter..on the River Thames (*Trinity Man Fisherman Ballast Man..excepted). |
| 1771 Order Bk. B. Junior Bursar Trinity Coll. Oxford 39 (MS.) May 27..*Trinity Monday. Ordered that a general Court be held at Wroxton, Oct. 29. 1819 J. H. Newman Lett. (1891) I. 37. 1867 Freeman in Stephens Life (1895) I. vi. 386 So we shall anyhow meet on Trinity Monday. |
| a 1903 ‘Merriman’ Last Hope i, The tottering headstones of certain master mariners and *Trinity-pilots. |
| 1877 W. Jones Finger-ring 487 A rare and curious ‘*Trinity’ ring, turned out of one piece of ivory. |
| 1837 Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl. I. 33/1, 16 feet under the high-water of *Trinity standard. |
| 1426–7 Rec. St. Mary at Hill 65 Þe monday after *Trenite sonday. 1911 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 11) XXVII. 286 From Trinity Sunday onwards all Sundays until the close of the ecclesiastical year are reckoned as ‘after Trinity’. |
| 1540 Act 32 Hen. VIII, c. 21 §2 The full terme of the said *Trinitie Terme shall..begynne..the Fryeday next after Corpus Christi day. 1669 [see Hilary]. 1899 Oxford Univ. Cal., May 20, Oxford Trinity or Act Term begins. May 30, Trinity Law Term begins. |
| 1511 Pilton Churchw. Acc. (Som. Rec. Soc.) 61 Item for ij tapers agenst *trinyte tide..xx{supd}. 1841 L. J. Bernays tr. Couard's Serm. Ch. Hist. xii. 154 During the coming Trinity tide. |
| 1724 Lond. Gaz. No. 6249/9 Thomas Measant,..*Trinity-Waterman. |
| 1525–6 Rec. St. Mary at Hill 332 For mendyng of the *trynite wyndowe of the Sowthe side of the church. |
| 1825 Hone Every-day Bk. I. 726 The *Trinity-yacht..lay off St. George's. |
Hence
ˈtrinityhood (
nonce-wd.), the condition or character of being a trinity.
| 1886 Trinitas Trinitatum xxvii. 267 We have seen the Majesty of the Divine Trinityhood vindicated, in the triumph of the Second Adam over Satan. |