1. n. any marine bird of the subfamily Sterninae, like a gull but usu. smaller and with a long forked tail.
Etymology: of Scand. orig.: cf. Da. terne, Sw. t{auml}rna f. ON therna 2. n.1 a set of three, esp. three lottery numbers that when drawn together win a large prize.
2 such a prize.
Etymology: F terne f. L terni three each