3
Three (3) is a the natural number following two and preceding four.
Three is the second smallest prime number, the next is five.
3 goes into 9 exactly 3 times, so fractions with 3 in the denominator have a single digit repeating sequences in their decimal expansions.
Many human cultures have given the concept of three-ness symbolic meanings:
- The Holy Trinity in Christian doctrine
- The process of synthesis in Hegelian dialectic creates three-ness from two-ness
Three (三 pinyin san1) is considered a good number in Chinese culture because it sounds like the word "alive" (生 pinyin sheng1), compare to four.
Three is also:
- the number of musicians in a trio.
Other uses for three: