ternary form

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

ter′nary form′, 

1. Music and Dance a musical form in three sections, with the third usually an exact repetition of the first.

• 1895–1900

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

ternary form noun

1. a musical structure consisting of two contrasting sections followed by a repetition of the first; the form aba