triad
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English 5++LDOCE 5++tri·ad /ˈtraɪæd/ noun [countable] 1. SCCa Chinese secret criminal group 三合会〔华人黑社会组织〕2. GROUP OF PEOPLEGROUP OF THINGSa group of three people or things that are related or similar to each other 三人组合；三种事物的组合
Examples from the Corpus
triad• But other alleged triad leaders used violence to muscle their way into the business, according to the police.• Behind him are three priests representing the male triad.• The secondary triad comprises a rival agent, a vicious hit-man for the opposition and a series of pretty girls.• The Hong Kong police special triad squad responded with pressure of its own, according to McNicol.• This has the effect of rounding the contours and losing some of the austerity of the unadorned triads.Origin triad (1500-1600) French triade, from Latin, from Greek, from treis “three”tri·ad nounChineseSyllable
a criminal group secret Chinese Corpus
triad
tri‧ad /ˈtraɪæd/
noun [countable]
2. a group of three people or things that are related or similar to each other
tri‧ad /ˈtraɪæd/
noun [countable] Date: 1500-1600
Language: French
Origin: triade, from Latin, from Greek, from treis 'three'
1. a Chinese secret criminal groupLanguage: French
Origin: triade, from Latin, from Greek, from treis 'three'
2. a group of three people or things that are related or similar to each other