Trilogy

How to spell trilogy

7 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce trilogy

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does trilogy mean?

1. nounA group of three related novels, films, plays, or other works that together form a connected whole.

Trilogy in a sentence

• The author spent a decade writing her fantasy trilogy.

• The studio released the final film in the trilogy last summer.

Where does trilogy come from?

Language of origin: Greek

The word comes from the Greek trilogia, which described a set of three connected tragedies performed together at the dramatic festivals of ancient Athens. It is built from tri, meaning 'three', and logos, a broad word meaning 'word', 'account', or 'discourse', and by extension a body of writing on a theme. The Greek dramatists would stage three linked plays in sequence, so the term naturally came to mean any group of three related works. English adopted it in the early 1600s, at first strictly for the theatrical sense before broadening to novels, films, and musical works. The same logos element appears in countless English words such as 'biology' and 'dialogue', and recognising it explains why the ending is spelled -logy rather than -ogy, even though the trap is the single l after the i.

How the word is built

• tri- (three)
• -logy (from Greek logos: word, discourse, set of writings)