# Is there a word to mean, e.g., "divisible by three"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 19, 2009, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-to-mean-e-g-divisible-by-three/486581 "2009-02-19T18:51:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-to-mean-e-g-divisible-by-three/486581/21 "2009-02-20T21:21:01Z")
> [@Fish](#): > > I would assume that, from a mathematical standpoint, “even” is a more interesting property than “evenly divisible by three.” Even + even = even, even + odd = odd, odd + odd = even. Tripart + tripart = tripart, but not necessarily odd or even. I agree with you that “even” comes up much more often in typical mathematical and non-mathematical discourse than divisibility by anything else. That having been said, “exactly divisible by three”, “divisible by three with remainder of 1”, and “divisible by three with remainder of 2” give just as good a system of arithmetic as the one you are using with even and odd. > [@](#): > > It’s also easy to look at a number of any length and know if it is odd or even — check the last digit — not so much with threes. It’s strange that we _don’t_ have divisible-by words for “by fives” and “by tens” which are just as easy to recognize as evens. It suggests the idea of “evens” and “odds” arose with the idea of sharing, possibly far predating the base-10 number system. Yes, of course the concepts of even and odd far, far, far predate the base-10 notational system; most simple arithmetic concepts do. The reason we have a word for divisibility by 2 isn’t because 2 happens to divide into 10. We have the word because we’ve been talking about lining things up into pairs for a long time, even long before we had anything like the general concept of division or divisibility (which in turn, as pointed out, came far before numeric notation had standardized to anything like the current system). ---
**Author:** ![canesbr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cdc98d/32.png) [@canesbr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/canesbr)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2016, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-to-mean-e-g-divisible-by-three/486581/22 "2016-02-07T17:48:52Z")
Pure trivia Get it? TRIvia REgards BRian ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2016, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-to-mean-e-g-divisible-by-three/486581/23 "2016-02-07T18:18:28Z")
> [@Fish](#): > > It’s also easy to look at a number of any length and know if it is odd or even — check the last digit — not so much with threes Actually, it is. You just sum the digits, and if that number is divisible by 3, then the number is divisible by 3. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2016, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-to-mean-e-g-divisible-by-three/486581/24 "2016-02-07T18:19:59Z")
D’oh! I suppose this is the first zombie of the day. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2016, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-to-mean-e-g-divisible-by-three/486581/25 "2016-02-07T20:25:42Z")
Seven years, and nobody said trifurcatable? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2016, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-to-mean-e-g-divisible-by-three/486581/26 "2016-02-07T20:36:40Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > [Modular arithmetic - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modular_arithmetic) > > Ooh, thanks, Jurph! I just saw the term “modulo” in a recent Staff Report but didn’t think to investigate further. Maybe there are some modular math terms that I can use. But “modulo 3” isn’t “a word”, so I’m curious why you think that is better than “divisible by 3”, especially since the latter would be more widely understood than the former. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2016, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-to-mean-e-g-divisible-by-three/486581/27 "2016-02-07T20:44:11Z")
Hypotenusal. Running around a triangle, every third leg is the hypotenuse, and would be number of leg passages divisible by three. Since only triangles have hypoteni, this would be unambiguously every third leg. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2016, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-to-mean-e-g-divisible-by-three/486581/28 "2016-02-07T20:44:59Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Actually, it is. You just sum the digits, and if that number is divisible by 3, then the number is divisible by 3. Which is a consequence of using base 10 and 10 being congruent to 1 base 3. It works for divisibility by 9 too. Odd/evenness extends for powers of 2 in that divisibility by 2^N requires that you simply check the last N digits - divisible by 4 if the last two digits are, etc. Same for 5 and powers thereof. Consequence of them factoring the base. You may have been taught quick divisibility checks for 2,3,4,5,6,8,9 back in grade school without being taught why they worked. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2016, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-to-mean-e-g-divisible-by-three/486581/29 "2016-02-07T23:45:41Z")
What is with the zombies today? We’ve got a half-dozen in GQ all by different newbies all providing plausible but wrong jokey or borderline crazy answers. Is Google having a special on searches or something? ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2016, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-to-mean-e-g-divisible-by-three/486581/30 "2016-02-08T01:56:38Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > How about Gaullian? > > [Cite.](http://classics.mit.edu/Caesar/gallic.1.1.html) > > Regards, > Shodan But Gaul was divided into _four_ parts! (I learned all my ancient history from reading Goscinny and Uderzo.) > [@](#): > > _Gaul was divided into three parts. No, four parts —for one small village of indomitable Gauls still held out against the Roman invaders._ ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2016, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-to-mean-e-g-divisible-by-three/486581/31 "2016-02-08T02:02:10Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > But Gaul was divided into _four_ parts! (I learned all my ancient history from reading Goscinny and Uderzo.) Bravo! ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2016, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-to-mean-e-g-divisible-by-three/486581/32 "2016-02-08T05:55:19Z")
I am the first to say Trivisible ? ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2016, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-to-mean-e-g-divisible-by-three/486581/33 "2016-02-08T17:36:56Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > I am the first to say > > Trivisible > > ? So it’s visible only to a creature with [three eyes](http://simpsons.wikia.com/wiki/Blinky)? ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2016, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-to-mean-e-g-divisible-by-three/486581/34 "2016-02-08T18:30:43Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > I am the first to say > > Trivisible > > ? Nope, not the first; check out post [#16](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=10853144&postcount=16). ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2016, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-to-mean-e-g-divisible-by-three/486581/35 "2016-02-08T19:42:13Z")
Trifold? Triune? ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2016, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-to-mean-e-g-divisible-by-three/486581/36 "2016-02-08T19:42:27Z")
I think the only word meeting the OP’s criterion is “triable”, which the _Oxford English Dictionary_ defines as “divisible into three”. All the other candidates presented in this thread (trisectable, ternary, tripartite, trivisible, trifold, triune) plus a few others not yet mentioned (trichotomous, trichotomic, etc.) don’t quite fit or aren’t attested. “Ternary” is a near miss; the OED says that this can mean “a number which is a multiple of three”, which makes it a noun, not an adjective. Note that these senses of “ternary” and “triable” are marked as rare and obsolete, respectively. I wouldn’t use them in everyday conversation or writing without explicitly defining them first. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2016, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-to-mean-e-g-divisible-by-three/486581/37 "2016-02-09T03:09:54Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > I think the only word meeting the OP’s criterion is “triable”, which the _Oxford English Dictionary_ defines as “divisible into three”. All the other candidates presented in this thread (trisectable, ternary, tripartite, trivisible, trifold, triune) plus a few others not yet mentioned (trichotomous, trichotomic, etc.) don’t quite fit or aren’t attested. “Ternary” is a near miss; the OED says that this can mean “a number which is a multiple of three”, which makes it a noun, not an adjective. > > Note that these senses of “ternary” and “triable” are marked as rare and obsolete, respectively. I wouldn’t use them in everyday conversation or writing without explicitly defining them first. I guess it just isn’t duable ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2016, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-to-mean-e-g-divisible-by-three/486581/38 "2016-02-09T17:54:32Z")
I’ve been pondering creating a suitable word based on “[aliquot](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/aliquot)”. “Contained in the whole an integral number of times.” One of **Mrs. FtG** ’s favorite tech words she uses at home. “Trialiquot” is a mouthful and easily mispronounced. “Triliquot” may not be a kosher formation. The origins are Latin “alius” (other/another) and “quot” (as many). The latter seems more significant at the former, so maybe “triquot” (pronounced like “try-qwat”). Then you could have “quadquot”, “quintquot”, etc. But these would all mean “put into X parts”. Divisibility in thirds might be “triquotable”. Ugh, that’s bad. Oh, well. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2016, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-to-mean-e-g-divisible-by-three/486581/39 "2016-02-09T18:36:54Z")
Trisectable. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2016, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-to-mean-e-g-divisible-by-three/486581/40 "2016-02-09T19:37:06Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Trisectable. As others have noted, trisection deals with magnitudes, not numbers, and therefore doesn’t denote dividing into whole parts. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-to-mean-e-g-divisible-by-three/486581.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-to-mean-e-g-divisible-by-three/486581.md?page=3)