"rule of three" meaning in English

See rule of three in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Proper name

Forms: the rule of three [canonical]
Head templates: {{en-proper noun|def=1}} the rule of three
  1. (mathematics education) A rule stating that, if two ratios are equal, then the denominator of the second equals its numerator times the reciprocal of the first ratio: if a/b=c/d then d=(bc)/a. Categories (topical): Education, Mathematics
    Sense id: en-rule_of_three-en-name-lJ23FvN0 Topics: education, mathematics, sciences
  2. (medicine) A rule for clinical trials used for determining the rate of adverse side effects when no such side effects present during the course of the trial. Categories (topical): Medicine
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  3. (writing, rhetoric) A rule which states that things which come in groups of three are inherently funnier or more effective than things which come in groups of other sizes. Tags: rhetoric Categories (topical): Rhetoric, Writing
    Sense id: en-rule_of_three-en-name-GGSpFnbX Categories (other): Entries with translation boxes, Terms with Finnish translations, Terms with French translations, Terms with Polish translations, Terms with Romanian translations, Terms with Spanish translations, Terms with Tagalog translations Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 5 22 13 20 18 21 Disambiguation of Terms with Finnish translations: 6 18 11 22 19 24 Disambiguation of Terms with French translations: 6 17 11 23 22 21 Disambiguation of Terms with Polish translations: 6 17 12 22 18 25 Disambiguation of Terms with Romanian translations: 6 18 11 23 18 24 Disambiguation of Terms with Spanish translations: 4 17 10 25 21 22 Disambiguation of Terms with Tagalog translations: 8 18 11 21 18 24 Topics: communications, journalism, literature, media, publishing, writing
  4. (writing, rhetoric) A rule which states that things which come in groups of three are inherently funnier or more effective than things which come in groups of other sizes.
    (writing, rhetoric) Specifically, the technique of having a setup in advance, a reminder to keep it fresh in the audience's memory, and then a payoff.
    Tags: rhetoric Categories (topical): Rhetoric, Writing
    Sense id: en-rule_of_three-en-name-4RLMTtcZ Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with Finnish translations, Terms with French translations, Terms with Polish translations, Terms with Romanian translations, Terms with Spanish translations, Terms with Tagalog translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 6 24 7 22 15 26 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 5 22 13 20 18 21 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 5 23 10 22 18 22 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 6 24 6 23 19 22 Disambiguation of Terms with Finnish translations: 6 18 11 22 19 24 Disambiguation of Terms with French translations: 6 17 11 23 22 21 Disambiguation of Terms with Polish translations: 6 17 12 22 18 25 Disambiguation of Terms with Romanian translations: 6 18 11 23 18 24 Disambiguation of Terms with Spanish translations: 4 17 10 25 21 22 Disambiguation of Terms with Tagalog translations: 8 18 11 21 18 24 Topics: communications, journalism, literature, media, publishing, writing
  5. (religion, Wicca) A religious tenet stating that the energy a person puts out into the world, positive or negative, will be returned to that person threefold. Categories (topical): Religion, Wicca
    Sense id: en-rule_of_three-en-name-We47v365 Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with Finnish translations, Terms with French translations, Terms with Polish translations, Terms with Romanian translations, Terms with Spanish translations, Terms with Tagalog translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 6 24 7 22 15 26 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 5 22 13 20 18 21 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 5 23 10 22 18 22 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 6 24 6 23 19 22 Disambiguation of Terms with Finnish translations: 6 18 11 22 19 24 Disambiguation of Terms with French translations: 6 17 11 23 22 21 Disambiguation of Terms with Polish translations: 6 17 12 22 18 25 Disambiguation of Terms with Romanian translations: 6 18 11 23 18 24 Disambiguation of Terms with Spanish translations: 4 17 10 25 21 22 Disambiguation of Terms with Tagalog translations: 8 18 11 21 18 24 Topics: Wicca, lifestyle, religion
  6. (programming) A rule of thumb in the C++ programming language, stating that any class that defines a destructor, a copy constructor, or a copy assignment operator should define all three of them. Categories (topical): Programming
    Sense id: en-rule_of_three-en-name-SqkKb0nH Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with Finnish translations, Terms with French translations, Terms with Polish translations, Terms with Romanian translations, Terms with Spanish translations, Terms with Tagalog translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 6 24 7 22 15 26 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 5 22 13 20 18 21 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 5 23 10 22 18 22 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 6 24 6 23 19 22 Disambiguation of Terms with Finnish translations: 6 18 11 22 19 24 Disambiguation of Terms with French translations: 6 17 11 23 22 21 Disambiguation of Terms with Polish translations: 6 17 12 22 18 25 Disambiguation of Terms with Romanian translations: 6 18 11 23 18 24 Disambiguation of Terms with Spanish translations: 4 17 10 25 21 22 Disambiguation of Terms with Tagalog translations: 8 18 11 21 18 24 Topics: computing, engineering, mathematics, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, programming, sciences
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Synonyms: the Rule of Three Related terms: cross-multiplication [mathematics, sciences] Translations (mathematical rule): kolmen sääntö (Finnish), règle de trois [feminine] (French), reguła trzech [feminine] (Polish), regulă de trei [feminine] (Romanian), regla de tres [feminine] (Spanish), tuntunin ng tatlo (Tagalog)
Disambiguation of 'mathematical rule': 19 15 20 20 1 24
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      "_dis1": "8 8 30 30 2 21",
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    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "_dis1": "19 15 20 20 1 24",
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "mathematical rule",
      "word": "kolmen sääntö"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "19 15 20 20 1 24",
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "mathematical rule",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "règle de trois"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "19 15 20 20 1 24",
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "mathematical rule",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "reguła trzech"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "19 15 20 20 1 24",
      "code": "ro",
      "lang": "Romanian",
      "sense": "mathematical rule",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "regulă de trei"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "19 15 20 20 1 24",
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "mathematical rule",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "regla de tres"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "19 15 20 20 1 24",
      "code": "tl",
      "lang": "Tagalog",
      "sense": "mathematical rule",
      "word": "tuntunin ng tatlo"
    }
  ],
  "word": "rule of three"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
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    "English proper nouns",
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    "Entries with translation boxes",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
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    "Terms with Finnish translations",
    "Terms with French translations",
    "Terms with Polish translations",
    "Terms with Romanian translations",
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  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "the rule of three",
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  "pos": "name",
  "related": [
    {
      "topics": [
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      "word": "cross-multiplication"
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  "senses": [
    {
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        "en:Mathematics"
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      "glosses": [
        "A rule stating that, if two ratios are equal, then the denominator of the second equals its numerator times the reciprocal of the first ratio: if a/b=c/d then d=(bc)/a."
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        "(mathematics education) A rule stating that, if two ratios are equal, then the denominator of the second equals its numerator times the reciprocal of the first ratio: if a/b=c/d then d=(bc)/a."
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      "topics": [
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      "glosses": [
        "A rule for clinical trials used for determining the rate of adverse side effects when no such side effects present during the course of the trial."
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        "(medicine) A rule for clinical trials used for determining the rate of adverse side effects when no such side effects present during the course of the trial."
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      "glosses": [
        "A rule which states that things which come in groups of three are inherently funnier or more effective than things which come in groups of other sizes."
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        "(writing, rhetoric) A rule which states that things which come in groups of three are inherently funnier or more effective than things which come in groups of other sizes."
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        "A rule which states that things which come in groups of three are inherently funnier or more effective than things which come in groups of other sizes.",
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        "(writing, rhetoric) A rule which states that things which come in groups of three are inherently funnier or more effective than things which come in groups of other sizes.",
        "(writing, rhetoric) Specifically, the technique of having a setup in advance, a reminder to keep it fresh in the audience's memory, and then a payoff."
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        "communications",
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        "writing"
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        "en:Religion",
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      "glosses": [
        "A religious tenet stating that the energy a person puts out into the world, positive or negative, will be returned to that person threefold."
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        "(religion, Wicca) A religious tenet stating that the energy a person puts out into the world, positive or negative, will be returned to that person threefold."
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      "topics": [
        "Wicca",
        "lifestyle",
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        "A rule of thumb in the C++ programming language, stating that any class that defines a destructor, a copy constructor, or a copy assignment operator should define all three of them."
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        "(programming) A rule of thumb in the C++ programming language, stating that any class that defines a destructor, a copy constructor, or a copy assignment operator should define all three of them."
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  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "the Rule of Three"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "mathematical rule",
      "word": "kolmen sääntö"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "mathematical rule",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "règle de trois"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "mathematical rule",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "reguła trzech"
    },
    {
      "code": "ro",
      "lang": "Romanian",
      "sense": "mathematical rule",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "regulă de trei"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "mathematical rule",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "regla de tres"
    },
    {
      "code": "tl",
      "lang": "Tagalog",
      "sense": "mathematical rule",
      "word": "tuntunin ng tatlo"
    }
  ],
  "word": "rule of three"
}

Download raw JSONL data for rule of three meaning in English (5.5kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-21 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (d8cb2f3 and 4e554ae). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.