Troikas

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A group or set of three people or things working together ; a traditional Russian carriage or sleigh drawn by a team of three horses abreast ; a coalition or alliance of three parties or powers collaborating for a common purpose
2. A trio of individuals or entities functioning jointly ; a historic conveyance drawn by a triple-horse team in lateral alignment ; a tripartite agreement or partnership among three organizations or nations
3. A cluster or combination of three units acting in coordination ; a vehicle pulled by three horses side-by-side, typically Russian in origin ; a triadic association or pact involving three cooperating members or factions

Etymology: "Troikas" is the plural of "troika," so it refers to more than one such group or vehicle. The singular comes from Russian "trójka," meaning a group of three, and the same word also named the three-horse sleigh or carriage that Russians used for travel, with the horses harnessed side by side. The word's sense of three things working together came from that carriage. The image of three horses pulling as one gave the term its association with a unit of three, and from there it came to describe three people or organizations acting jointly, as in a political or diplomatic arrangement among three parties.

Synonyms: trios, threesomes, triplets, tripartites