三(み)つ子(ご)

みつご
noun
triplets; three-year-old child
family
1. triplets (three children born together)
Three children born to the same mother at one birth.
三(み)つ子(ご)が生(う)まれた。
Triplets were born.
あの家(いえ)は三(み)つ子(ご)の育児(いくじ)で大変(たいへん)だ。
That household has a hard time raising triplets.
双子(ふたご)でも育児(いくじ)は大変(たいへん)なのに、三(み)つ子(ご)となればなおさらだ。
Raising twins is hard enough, so with triplets it is even more so.
2. three-year-old child; very young child
A young child of about three. This older sense survives mainly in the proverb below.
三(み)つ子(ご)の魂(たましい)百(ひゃく)まで。
The soul of a three-year-old lasts until a hundred. (A child's nature stays for life.)
三(み)つ子(ご)のころの性格(せいかく)は大人(おとな)になっても変(か)わらないと言(い)われる。
It is said that one's character at age three does not change even in adulthood.
「三(み)つ子(ご)の魂(たましい)百(ひゃく)まで」ということわざは、幼(おさな)いころの性質(せいしつ)が一生(いっしょう)続(つづ)くという意味(いみ)だ。
The proverb "the soul of a three-year-old lasts until a hundred" means that one's early nature continues for life.

Compound of 三(み)つ (three) + 子(こ) (child), with the こ voicing to ご. The everyday meaning is "triplets."

The older sense "three-year-old child" survives chiefly in the proverb 三(み)つ子(ご)の魂(たましい)百(ひゃく)まで (a person's nature in early childhood remains for life).

Common collocations

Similar words

Related Words

Compare: 双子(ふたご) (twins)
Compare: 四(よ)つ子(ご) (quadruplets)
Compare: 双生児(そうせいじ) (twins (formal/medical term))
general
Added 2026.5.27 11:07 · Revised 2026.9.2 13:02
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