Trebled

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Increased in amount or quantity by a factor of three ; consisting of three parts or elements
2. Made three times as large or numerous ; composed of three separate parts or aspects
3. Expanded to three times the original size or number ; characterized by a structure or composition involving three components

Etymology: "Trebled" is the past tense and past participle of "treble," so its story is really the story of the verb it comes from. That verb reaches English from Old French "treble," which took it from Latin "triplus," meaning threefold. Latin built "triplus" from the same root as "tres" (three), with the "-plus" element that also appears in words like "duplus" for double, and the Latin form carried the sense of being three times as much. English borrowed the word in the Middle Ages, and it spent its early career mostly as an adjective for things that come in threes or are three times as great. The verb sense, to make something three times as large, developed from that, so "trebled" describes a quantity that has been tripled. Triple, the more formal cousin, was borrowed directly from Latin later on, so the two words are doublets: different English routes from one Latin source.

Synonyms: tripled, increased, multiplied, expanded, augmented

Antonyms: diminished, reduced