Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913
Treble
Tre′ble (trĕb′'l), a. [OE. treble threefold, OF. treble, treible, L. triplus. See Triple.] 1. Threefold; triple.
A lofty tower, and strong on every side With treble walls. Dryden.
2. (Mus.) (a) Acute; sharp; as, a treble sound. Bacon. (b) Playing or singing the highest part or most acute sounds; playing or singing the treble; as, a treble violin or voice.
Tre′ble, adv. Trebly; triply. [Obs.] J. Fletcher.
Tre′ble, n. [" It has been said to be a corruption of triplum [Lat.], a third part, superadded to the altus and bassus (high and low)." Grove.] (Mus.) The highest of the four principal parts in music; the part usually sung by boys or women; soprano.
☞ This is sometimes called the first treble, to distinguish it from the second treble, or alto, which is sung by lower female voices.
Tre′ble, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Trebled; p. pr. & vb. n. Trebling.] 1. To make thrice as much; to make threefold. "Love trebled life." Tennyson.
2. To utter in a treble key; to whine. [Obs.]
He outrageously (When I accused him) trebled his reply. Chapman.
Tre′ble, v. i. To become threefold. Swift.