† tres-
a. F. très (trɛ) adv. ‘very’:—L. trans beyond; formerly in occasional Eng. use prefixed to adjs., properly French (or identical in form with French), as treschristien [= mod.F. chrétien Christian], tresgrand (very great), tresnoble, trespuissant, tres-royal; sometimes to English adjs., as tres-sacred, tres-splendent. Hence rarely in derived n., as trespuissance.
| 1572 Satir. Poems Reform. xxxviii. 19 Thy style was *Treschristien, maist Cristen King. |
| 1605 Broughton Corrupt. Handl. Relig. 104 The trespas is doubtles *tres⁓grand. |
| 1587 Fleming Contn. Holinshed III. 1977/1 Of this *tresnoble and *trespuissant monarch, I find these few verses. |
| 1577–87 Holinshed Chron. I. 181/1 The *tres⁓puissance of Cnute, the amplenesse of his dominions. |
| 1647 Ward Simp. Cobler 57 *Tres-Royall Sir, I once againe beseech you. |
| 1600 W. Watson Decacordon (1602) 49 The same *tres-sacred bodie..was both dead and buried. |
| 1648 Petit. East. Assoc. 12 To behold..our *Tres-splendent Crown carried into a desolate Wardrope. |