3. (Zoöl.) One of the quill feathers which are borne upon the basal
joint of the wing of a bird. See Illust. of Bird.
Ter"ti*ate (?), v. t. [L. tertiatus, p. p. of tertiare to do for the
third time, fr. tertius the third.] 1. To do or perform for the third
time. [Obs. & R.] Johnson.
2. (Gun.) To examine, as the thickness of the metal at the muzzle of a
gun; or, in general, to examine the thickness of, as ordnance, in order
to ascertain its strength.
||Ter`u*ter"o (?), n. [Probably so named from its city.] (Zoöl.) The
||South American lapwing (Vanellus Cayennensis). Its wings are
||furnished with short spurs. Called also Cayenne lapwing.
||
||Ter"za ri"ma (?). [It., a third or triple rhyme.] A peculiar and
||complicated system of versification, borrowed by the early Italian
||poets from the Troubadours.
||
||Ter*zet"to (?), n. [It., dim. of terzo the third, L. tertius. See
||Tierce.] (Mus.) A composition in three voice parts; a vocal (rarely
||an instrumental) trio.
||
Tes"sel*ar (?), a. [L. tessella a small square piece, a little cube,
dim. of tessera a square piece of stone, wood, etc., a die.] Formed of
tesseræ, as a mosaic.
||Tes`sel*la"ta (?), n. pl. [NL. See Tessellate.] (Zoöl.) A division of
||Crinoidea including numerous fossil species in which the body is
||covered with tessellated plates.
||
Tes"sel*late (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Tessellated (?); p. pr. & vb. n.
Tessellating.] [L. tessellatus tessellated. See Tessellar.] To form
into squares or checkers; to lay with checkered work.
The floors are sometimes of wood, tessellated after the fashion of
France.
Macaulay.
Tes"sel*late (?), a. [L. tesselatus.] Tessellated.
Tes"sel*la`ted (?), a. 1. Formed of little squares, as mosaic work;
checkered; as, a tessellated pavement.