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View synonyms for three R's

three R's

plural noun

  1. reading, 'riting, and 'rithmetic, regarded as the fundamentals of education.
  2. the fundamentals, basic knowledge, or skills of any system or field:

    the three R's of good government.



three Rs

plural noun

  1. the three Rs
    the three skills regarded as the fundamentals of education; reading, writing, and arithmetic
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


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Word History and Origins

Origin of three R's1

First recorded in 1820–30
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Word History and Origins

Origin of three R's1

from the humorous spelling reading, 'riting, and 'rithmetic
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Idioms and Phrases

The fundamentals of education, as in It's a terrible school; the children are not even taught the three R's . It is widely believed that Sir William Curtis, an alderman who became Lord Mayor of London, once presented a toast to the three R's—reading, riting, and rithmetic—thereby betraying his illiteracy. In any event, the term was picked up by others and so used from the early 1800s on.

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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