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triumvirate
triune
triunity
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trivial

triv·i·al [ trívvee əl ]


adjective 
Definition:
 
1. having little value: lacking in seriousness, importance, or value

2. commonplace: lacking any qualities that are unique or interesting

3. concerned with trivia: relating to or concerned with trivia

4. mathematics with zero values: describes the simplest possible case mathematically, especially with all mathematical variables equal to zero

[15th century. < Latin trivialis "relating to the trivium division of subjects," hence "commonplace" (because the trivium was considered to incorporate the less important subjects) < trivium (see trivium)]

triv·i·al·ly adverb

Word History

Medieval teachers and scholars recognized seven liberal arts: the lower three, grammar, logic, and rhetoric, were known as the trivium, and the upper four, arithmetic, astronomy, geometry, and music, were known as the quadrivium. The notion of "less important subjects" led in the 16th century to the use of the derived adjective trivial for "commonplace, of little importance."

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