What does "tierce" mean?

Tierce: A cask larger than a barrel, and smaller than a hogshead or a puncheon, in which salt provisions, rice, etc., are packed for shipment.

Additional senses

  1. 2.(Mus.) The third tone of the scale. See Mediant.
  2. 3.A sequence of three playing cards of the same suit. Tierce of ace, king, queen, is called tierce-major.
  3. 4.(Fencing) A position in thrusting or parrying in which the wrist and nails are turned downward.
  4. 5.(R. C. Ch.) The third hour of the day, or nine a.m.; one of the canonical hours; also, the service appointed for that hour.
  5. 6.Divided into three equal parts of three different tinctures; -- said of an escutcheon.

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