tripos

[ trahy-pos ]

noun

, plural tri·pos·es.

1. (at Cambridge University, England) any of various final honors examinations.

tripos

/ ˈtraɪpɒs /

noun

1. the final honours degree examinations in all subjects at Cambridge University

Word History and Origins

Origin of tripos¹

1580–90; pseudo-Hellenization of Latin tripūs tripod

Word History and Origins

Origin of tripos¹

C16: from Latin tripūs , influenced by Greek noun ending -os

Example Sentences

“I am seeing plenty of Lingulodinium polyedra and Tripos furca the last few days — both are producers of the bioluminescence light shows we are seeing.”

From Los Angeles Times

Attending Cambridge, he sat for the Mathematical Tripos, a grueling eight-day exam that largely tested one’s ability to quickly calculate for extended periods of time.

From Salon

No matter how exceptional a woman’s intellectual gifts, her opportunities remained severely limited: “Philippa Fawcett, from Clapham High School, recorded in 1890 the highest marks of any candidate in the Cambridge Mathematical Tripos.”

From Washington Post

What I didn’t recognize at the time was that Tristram Shandy was actually the first blast of the trumpet in laughing at the kind of reverence for “the Novel” which was then the basis of much of the English tripos.

From Slate

Pigou, one of the examiners of the Economics Tripos at Cambridge University that year, wrote to Keynes to complain that both staff and students were taking much of his work too literally:

From Economist