treble

Borrowed from Old French treble, from Latin triplus. Doublet of triple.

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɹɛbəl/
• Rhymes: -ɛbəl

treble (not comparable)

1. (music) Pertaining to the highest singing voice or part in harmonized music; soprano.
   • 1957, J. D. Salinger, "Zooey", in, 1961, Franny and Zooey:

     He put his cigar in his mouth, and, with his right hand, up in the treble keys, he began to play, in octaves, the melody of a song called "The Kinkajou," which, somewhat notably, had shifted into and ostensibly out of popularity before he was born.

2. High in pitch; shrill.
3. (rare) Threefold, triple.
   • Dryden

     A lofty tower, and strong on every side / With treble walls.

• (music) bass
• (maths) third

• treble clef
• treble staff

treble (not comparable)

1. Trebly; triply.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of J. Fletcher to this entry?)

treble (plural trebles)

1. (music) The highest singing voice (especially as for a boy) or part in musical composition.
2. (music) A person or instrument having a treble voice or pitch; a boy soprano.
3. The highest tuned in a ring of bells.
4. Any high-pitched or shrill voice or sound.
5. A threefold quantity or number; something having three parts or having been tripled.
6. A drink with three portions of alcohol.
7. (darts) Any of the narrow areas enclosed by the two central circles on a dartboard, worth three times the usual value of the segment.
8. (sports) Three goals, victories, awards etc. in a given match or season.
   • 2014, Jacob Steinberg, "Wigan shock Manchester City in FA Cup again to reach semi-finals", The Guardian, 9 March 2014:

     As for City, a domestic treble is off the cards and they must haul themselves off the floor quickly with the second leg of their last-16 Champions League tie against Barcelona on Wednesday.

treble (third-person singular simple present trebles, present participle trebling, simple past and past participle trebled)

1. (transitive) To multiply by three; to make into three parts, layers, or thrice the amount.
2. (intransitive) To become multiplied by three or increased threefold.
3. (intransitive) To make a shrill or high-pitched noise.
4. (transitive) To utter in a treble key; to whine.
   • Chapman

     He outrageously / (When I accused him) trebled his reply.

• Belter, Beltre, Elbert, Lebert, belter

From Latin triplus.

treble m (oblique and nominative feminine singular treble)

1. treble; triple
   • 1314, H. de Mondeville, Chirurgie, page 24, 3rd column, lines 9-12

     L'utilité […] est treble

     The usefulness […] is treble

• English: treble

• Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IX^e au XV^e siècle (1881) (treble)