tridentn.adj.
/ˈtrʌɪdənt/ A. n.
1. An instrument or weapon with three prongs. esp.
a. A three-pronged fish-spear or sceptre as the attribute of the sea-god Poseidon or Neptune, also figured as borne by Britannia.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > deity > classical deity > [noun] > Neptune > sceptre of
trident1599
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > sharp weapon > spear or lance > [noun] > 2 or 3-pronged spear > of Neptune
trident1599
society > trade and finance > money > medium of exchange or currency > coins collective > English coins > [noun] > penny
pennylOE
sterling1297
win1567
penny piece1797
dubbeltjie1822
cross-penny1837
saltee1859
trident1898
bun-penny1958
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > sharp weapon > spear or lance > [noun] > 2 or 3-pronged spear > of Britannia
trident1898
1599 T. Nashe Lenten Stuffe 12 In the swindge of his trident, he constituted two Lord admirals ouer the whole nauy of England.
1612 T. Dekker Troia-Noua Triumphans 73 In his hand he holds a siluer Trident, or Three-forked-Mace.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Coriolanus (1623) iii. i. 256 He would not flatter Neptune for his Trident, Or Ioue, for's power to Thunder. View more context for this quotation
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis i, in tr. Virgil Wks. 207 The God himself with ready Trident stands, And opes the Deep, and spreads the moving sands.
1849 G. P. R. James Woodman I. vii. 123 Some serrated at the edges like Neptune's trident.
1898 G. B. Rawlings Story Brit. Coinage 113 In 1797 we have the first English regal copper penny... Britannia seated to right, the union shield at her side, a palm branch in her right hand and a trident in her left.
b. A three-pronged spear used by the retiarius in ancient Roman gladiatorial combats.
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society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > sharp weapon > spear or lance > [noun] > 2 or 3-pronged spear
fuskin?1578
bident1675
trident1693
sea-pike1870
1693 G. Stepney tr. Juvenal in J. Dryden et al. tr. Juvenal Satires viii. 161 As Retiarius he Attacks his Foe; First waves his Trident ready for the throw, Next casts his Net.
1891 F. W. Farrar Darkness & Dawn II. xxxix. 62 He flung down net and dagger and trident, and, retreating to the barrier, stood there with folded arms.
c. figurative or in figurative context.
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society > authority > rule or government > rule over the sea > [noun]
navya1500
trident1638
thalattocracy1839
thalassocracy1846
1638 R. Baker tr. J. L. G. de Balzac New Epist. II. 202 The Syllogisme, which by the saying of a Grecian is the Trident and Mace of Philosophie, is in your writings all painted and perfumed.
1698 W. Congreve Birth of Muse 5 To Worlds remote, she [Britannia] wide extends her Reign, And wields the Trident of the stormy Main.
1804 A. Duncan (title) The British Trident; or, Register of Naval Actions.
1812 Wellesley in Parl. Deb. 1st Ser. 30 Nov. To concede the points..would be to throw into her hands the trident of the main.
d. (With capital initial.) (a) The name of a type of U.S. nuclear-powered submarine designed to carry ballistic missiles; (b) a type of submarine-launched ballistic missile designed to be carried by a Trident submarine. Cf. ULMS n. at U n.1 Initialisms 1a.
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society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > missile > guided or ballistic missile > [noun] > types of
loon1947
seeker1949
Honest John1952
Nike1952
heat-seeker1956
anti-ballistic missile1957
Polaris1957
Pershing1958
SAM1958
cruise missile1959
sea-cat1959
minuteman1961
ABM1963
lance1964
Exocet1970
trident1972
MX missile1973
stinger1975
cruise1976
tomahawk1976
silo buster1977
Euromissile1979
Brilliant Pebbles1988
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > war vessel > [noun] > submarine > specific types
U-boat1914
midget submarine1917
midget sub1933
trident1972
1972 N.Y. Times 17 May 25/2 The Navy's projected new nuclear submarine and missile, known until now as Ulms, has been renamed the Trident.
1975 Bull. Atomic Scientists (Chicago) 31 iv. 13 Trident—A proposed super-quiet, highly maneuverable sub designed to fire very long-range missiles.
1978 Collier's Encycl. Year Bk. 1977 102 A new submarine-launched ballistic missile.., the Trident, entered the flight test phase January 18.
1986 Daily Tel. 17 Nov. 16/1 Mrs Thatcher has returned from Camp David with the assurances she sought over Trident.
2. transferred. Applied to something resembling a trident in shape or configuration, as a three-pronged fork, a piece of land with three promontories.
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the world > space > shape > unevenness > projection or prominence > sharp unevenness > [noun] > a sharp prominence > any three-pronged object
trident1730
1730 J. Swift Let. to Gay 10 Nov. Tell her Grace, that the ill management of forks is not to be help'd when they are only bidential..her Grace hath cost me thirty pounds to provide Tridents for fear of offending her.
1869 H. F. Tozer Res. Highlands of Turkey I. 101 The two other peninsulas, which form the trident of Chalcidice.
3. Geometry. Name of a plane cubic curve of a form suggesting a three-pronged weapon; also trident curve. Also called Cartesian parabola (parabola n. 1b).
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the world > relative properties > number > geometry > curve > [noun] > having specific shape
trident1710
cardioid1747
J-curve1916
snowflake curve1956
1710 J. Harris Lexicon Technicum II Trident is a Name given by Sir Is. Newton to that kind of Parabola, by which D'Cartes constructed Equations of six Dimensions.
1795 C. Hutton Math. & Philos. Dict. II. 191 Cartesian Parabola..xy = ax3 + bx2 + cx + d..being Newton's 66th species of lines of the 3d order, and called by him a Trident.
1864 A. Cayley Coll. Math. Papers V. 364 The Trident Curve.
B. adj.
Having three prongs or forks; tridental. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > unevenness > projection or prominence > sharp unevenness > [adjective] > having (a) sharp projection(s) > having three projecting points
three-forked1535
three-tined1558
trident1589
tridented1620
trident-shaped1871
Trinacrian1871
1589 R. Greene Menaphon sig. B2v Neptune..with his trident mace.
1648 Earl of Westmorland Otia Sacra (1879) 97 A Trident mischief that doth wound, Requires a Treble Patience to afford Relief.
1864 [see sense A. 3]. 1910 Expositor Aug. 139 He is represented..hurling the trident lightning and with a huge club.
Compounds
C1. General attributive.
trident-bearer n.
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the world > the supernatural > deity > classical deity > [noun] > Neptune
NeptuneOE
earth-shaker1580
tridentifer1600
circler of the earth?1611
trident-bearer1749
water monarch1785
trident-swayer1904
1749 G. West tr. Pindar Odes Olympick i. 12 Strait the Trident-bearer came.
trident-swayer n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > deity > classical deity > [noun] > Neptune
NeptuneOE
earth-shaker1580
tridentifer1600
circler of the earth?1611
trident-bearer1749
water monarch1785
trident-swayer1904
1904 C. Lanier Sonn. in Daily Chron. 21 Apr. 3/2 Trident-swayer of emotion's trembling sea!
trident tooth n.
ΚΠ
1901 G. Meredith tr. Homer Iliad in Reading of Life 128 The God drives deep his trident teeth.
C2.
trident-armed adj.
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the world > the supernatural > deity > classical deity > [adjective] > relating to Neptune
Neptunianc1620
tridented1624
tridental1635
trident-bearing1749
trident-armed1866
1866 J. Conington tr. Virgil Æneid i. 226 He, trident-armed, each dull weight heaves.
trident-bearing adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > deity > classical deity > [adjective] > relating to Neptune
Neptunianc1620
tridented1624
tridental1635
trident-bearing1749
trident-armed1866
1749 G. West tr. Pindar Odes Olympick i. 12 Invocating oft the name Of the Trident-bearing God.
trident-shaped adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > unevenness > projection or prominence > sharp unevenness > [adjective] > having (a) sharp projection(s) > having three projecting points
three-forked1535
three-tined1558
trident1589
tridented1620
trident-shaped1871
Trinacrian1871
1871 C. Kingsley At Last xiv A curious trident-shaped stand..on the horns of which garlands of flowers are hung as offerings.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1914; most recently modified version published online June 2021).
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n.adj.1589