1.
triplets (three children born together)
Three children born to the same mother at one birth.
三つ子が生まれた。
Triplets were born.
あの家は三つ子の育児で大変だ。
That household has a hard time raising triplets.
双子でも育児は大変なのに、三つ子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.
三つ子の魂百まで。
The soul of a three-year-old lasts until a hundred. (A child's nature stays for life.)
三つ子のころの性格は大人になっても変わらないと言われる。
It is said that one's character at age three does not change even in adulthood.
「三つ子の魂百まで」ということわざは、幼いころの性質が一生続くという意味だ。
The proverb "the soul of a three-year-old lasts until a hundred" means that one's early nature continues for life.
Compound of 三つ (three) + 子 (child), with the こ voicing to ご. The everyday meaning is "triplets."
The older sense "three-year-old child" survives chiefly in the proverb 三つ子の魂百まで (a person's nature in early childhood remains for life).
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- 三つ子を産む: to give birth to triplets
- 三つ子の兄弟: triplet siblings
SIMILAR WORDS:
- 双子: twins — two children born together
- 四つ子: quadruplets — the same pattern with four