triquetrous, a.
(traɪˈkwɛtrəs)
[f. L. triquetrus three-cornered, triangular + -ous.]
Three-sided triangular; in Nat. Hist. of triangular cross-section, three-edged, trihedral, triangularly prismatic or pyramidal.
| 1658 Sir T. Browne Gard. Cyrus ii. 40 The lithostrota or figured pavements of the ancients, which consisted not all of square stones, but were divided into triquetrous segments. 1752 J. Hill Hist. Anim. 27 The grey wood Spider, with a triquetrous body. 1826 Kirby & Sp. Entomol. III. xxxiii. 432 Almost universally they [the mandibles of insects] incline to a triquetrous or three-sided figure. 1870 Hooker Stud. Flora 291 Lamium, Dead-nettle..nutlets 3-quetrous. 1872 Oliver Elem. Bot. App. 309 Fruits ovoid, acutely triquetrous. |
Hence triˈquetrously adv.
| 1884 in Stormonth Dict. |