tercet
(ˈtɜːsɪt)
Forms: 6–7 terset, 7 tercett, (terzetta), 7–9 terzet, 8 -ett, (9 terzette), 7–9 tiercet, 9 tercet.
[ad. It. terzetto, dim. f. terzo (:—L. tertius) third + -etto, -et1. Thence also obs. F. tiercet (c 1500 in Jean Le Maire) and mod.F. tercet (17th c. in Boileau), whence the later Eng. forms.]
1. Pros. A set or group of three lines riming together, or bound by double or triple rime with the adjacent triplet or triplets; spec. a. each of the triplets of the Italian terza rima; b. each of the two triplets usually forming the last six lines of a sonnet.
| 1598 Florio, Terzetto, a terset of rymes, rymes that ryme three and three. 1656 Earl of Monmouth tr. Boccalini's Advts. fr. Parnass. i. lxxvi. (1674) 93 The..Princes..were proof against every pungent Terzetta. Ibid. ii. xiv. 154 The pleasant Tersets. 1755 Johnson, Tiercet..a triplet; three lines. 1838–9 Hallam Hist. Lit. II. ii. v. §44. 208 The first lines or quartets of the sonnet excite a soft expectation, which is harmoniously fulfilled by the tercets or last six lines. 1885 A. J. Butler Dante, Paradise xix. 257 note, Observe the structure of this and the following tercets. |
2. Mus. a. A third. (? An error.) b. A triplet (Cent. Dict. 1891).
| 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), Tercet, a Third in Musick. [So 1721 Bailey, 1775 Ash, and many 19th c. Dicts.] |