tritá m. ‘third’ (τρίτος), N. of a Vedic deity (associated with the Maruts, Vāyu, and Indra; fighting like the latter with Trita, Vṛtra, and other demons; called Āptya [q.v.], ‘water-deity’, and supposed to reside in the remotest regions of the world, whence [[RV. viii, 47, 13]-[15]; [AV.]] the idea of wishing to remove calamity to T°, and the view of the Tritas being the keepers of nectar [[RV. vi, 44, 23]], similarly, [L.] [[RV. ii, 34, 10]; [TS. i]; [TBr. i]] the notion of Trita's bestowing long life; also conceived as an inferior deity conquering the demons by order and with the help of Indra [[RV. ii]; [viii, 52, 1]; [x]]; fallen into a well he begged aid from the gods [[i, 105, 17]; [x, 8, 7]]; as to this last myth, [Sāy.] on [i, 105] relates that 3 Ṛṣis, Ekata, Dvita, and Trita, parched with thirst, looked about and found a well, and when T° began to draw water, the other two, desirous of his property, pushed him down and closed up the well with a wheel; shut up there, T° composed a hymn to the gods, and managed miraculously to prepare the sacrificial Soma, that he might drink it himself, or offer it to the deities and so be extricated: this is alluded to in [RV. ix, 34, 4] [cf. [32, 2]; [38, 2]; [102, 2]] and described in [MBh. ix, 2095]; also, [Nir. iv, 6] makes him a Ṛṣi, and he is the supposed author of [RV. i, 105]; [viii, 36]; [ix, 33 f.] and [102]; [x, 1]-[7]; in epic legends [[MBh. ix], [xii f.]] Ekata, Dvita, and T° are described as 3 brothers, sons of Gautama or of Prajā-pati or Brahmā; elsewhere T° is one of the 12 sons of Manu Cākṣuṣa by Naḍvalā, [BhP. iv, 13, 16]; cf. traitaná; Zend Thrita; Τρίτων, τριτο-γενής, &c.)
tritá n. triplet of young (three-twin), [TS.], Sch.