thrice

Etymology

PIE word *tréyes From Middle English thrice, thries (“three times, thrice; a third time; repeated three times”), from earlier thrī, thrīe (“three times, thrice; a third time”) (from Old English þriwa, þreowa) + -es (“suffix forming adverbs of time, place, and manner”) (from Old English -es (“suffix forming adverbs”)). The word is cognate with Old Frisian thria ("thrice"; > Saterland Frisian träie (“thrice”)), Middle Low German drîes (“thrice”), Middle High German drīes, drīs (“thrice”).

adv

1. (dated) Three times.
   Thrice ore the caddow I mine armes outſpred: / Thrice did I fall, before I once could riſe: / Leaning vpon mine elbow for a reſt, / Nodding, I knockt my chin againſt my breſt. // Then ſigh’d, ſlipt downe, and twixt the ſheete and pillow / I nuzled in, joyn’d knees and chin together: / I dream’d I wore a garland of greene willow. / But ſnuffling low, I prickt me with a fether; / So wakt, the bolſter for my backe I choſe, / And yawning thrice, I rub’d mine eyes and roſe. 1601, Io[hn] Weeuer [i.e., John Weever], The Mirror of Martyrs, or The Life and Death of that Thrice Valiant Captaine, and Most Godly Martyre Sir Iohn Old-castle Knight Lord Cobham, [London]: Printed by V[alentine] S[immes] for William Wood, →OCLC
   Once, twice, thrice, I met Young Lubin on the Green, / once, twice, thrice, Young Lubin he met me, / the firſt time I beheld the Lad he made a humble bow, / I bluſh'd and hung my ſilly head and felt I don't know how, […] [1805?], [James] Hook, Once, Twice, Thrice, Sung with Great Applause by Mrs. Bland at Vauxhall Gardens, London: Printed for J. Dale,[…], →OCLC, stanza 1, pages 4–5
   And then he Bedivere] threw the sword into the water as far as he might, and there came an arm and a hand above the water, and met it and caught it, and so shook it thrice and brandished. And then the hand vanished away with the sword in the water. 1918, Thomas Malory, “The Sword Excalibur”, in William Patten, compiler, Heroes and Heroines of Chivalry (The Junior Classics; IV), New York, N.Y.: P[eter] F[enelon] Collier & Son Corporation, →OCLC, page 29
   Seven hours after giving birth […] Kate Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge] gave the world a first glimpse of their third child, a new Prince of Cambridge. […] Minutes after the brief photocall, the couple headed home with William [the Duke of Cambridge] emerging with his son in a car seat and holding Kate’s hand. “Thrice the worry now,” a smiling William said, holding up three fingers. 24 April 2018, Richard Palmer, “Royal baby: ‘Thrice the worry now!’: Prince William captures the reality of parenthood”, in The Sunday Express, London, archived from the original on 2018-06-15