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Proceeding by threes; consisting of three; as, the ternary number was anciently esteemed a symbol of perfection, and held in great veneration.

Later than, or subsequent to, the Tertiary; Post-tertiary; as, the Quaternary age, or Age of man.

recent division of geological time, including the tertiary, or Age of mammals, and the Quaternary, or Age of man. [Written also cænozoic, cainozoic, kainozoic.] See Geology.

A subdivision of the Quaternary age immediately following the Glacial period; -- so named from beds near Lake Champlain.

An extinct Quaternary marsupial from Australia, about as large as the hippopotamus; -- so named because of its two large front teeth. See Illustration in Appendix.

ed to the European stag. See Moose, and Wapiti. Irish elk (Paleon.), a large, extinct, Quaternary deer (Cervus giganteus) with widely spreading antlers. Its remains have been found beneath the peat of swamps in Ireland and England. See Illustration in Appendix; also Illustration of Antler. -- Cape elk (Zoöl.), the ela…

An extinct South American quaternary mammal, allied to the armadillos. It was as large as an ox, was covered with tessellated scales, and had fluted teeth. Owen.

A quaternary deposit, usually consisting of a fine yellowish earth, on the banks of the Rhine and other large rivers.

omains occur in nearly all parts of the world in deposits ranging from Miocene to late Quaternary time.

An extinct quaternary mammal, of great size, allied to the sloth.

An extinct gigantic quaternary mammal, allied to the ant-eaters and sloths. Its remains are found in South America.

Among the ancients, O was a mark of triple time, from the notion that the ternary, or number 3, is the most perfect of numbers, and properly expressed by a circle, the most perfect figure. O was also anciently used to represent 11: with a dash over it (O O, n.; pl. O's or Oes (.

A ternary compound of oxygen and chlorine; as, plumbic oxychloride.

A ternary compound of oxygen and sulphur.

o the period immediately following the Pliocene; Pleistocene. Also used as a noun. See Quaternary.

Following, or more recent than, the Tertiary; Quaternary.

nite, gneiss, etc.; -- called also primitive rocks. The terms Secondary, Tertiary, and Quaternary rocks have also been used in like manner, but of these the last two only are now in use. -- Primary salt (Chem.), a salt derived from a polybasic acid in which only one acid hydrogen atom has been replaced by a base or ba…

of the second, third, fourth, fifth, or a higher degree. These are further called binary, ternary, quaternary, etc., according as they contain two, three, four, or more variables; thus, the quantic is a binary cubic.

Composed of, or arranged in, sets of four; quaternary; as, quaternate leaves.

The number three; three things together; a ternary. Bp. Hall.