terze

Terze is the feminine plural form of the Italian ordinal adjective terzo, used to indicate the third item in a sequence when describing feminine nouns. In Italian, ordinal adjectives agree with the gender and number of the noun they modify; terzo has the forms terzo (masculine singular), terza (feminine singular), terzi (masculine plural), and terze (feminine plural).

The form terze is typically used with feminine plural nouns. In practice, it often follows the noun, as in setti m an e terze (the third weeks) or classi terze (the third-year classes). It can also appear before a feminine plural noun in certain contexts, especially for emphasis or in specific syntactic arrangements, but the common pattern is noun + terze.

Common examples include le settimane terze (the third weeks), le classi terze (the third classes, e.g., third-year classes), and le potenze terze (the third powers of numbers, i.e., cubes). In mathematics, terze potenze is a standard phrase for cubic powers, while terza potenza refers to the third power in singular form.

Etymology and related terms: terze derives from Latin tertius, the root also found in terzo and terza. The term is a grammatical inflection rather than a standalone lexical item, and its usage depends on the feminine plural noun it modifies.

In summary, terze serves as a gender- and number-appropriate form for indicating “the third” of feminine plural nouns in Italian, appearing across contexts from everyday counting to academic terminology.