Greek and Latin and Sanskrit.
The Greek prefix for 3 is "tri-". So, in the covalent compound C3H8, the cation represented by the Greek prefix is tri- (as in tricarbon).
The previous answer here was "greek". Unfortunately, this is incorrect; perhaps it was a guess? The correct answer is Latin; reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_and_Latin_roots_in_English .
tri
The prefix in tripod is tri
Tri is a prefix meaning "Three."
'Tri' is a prefix for angle
The prefix in the word "tripod" is "tri-," which means "three." It comes from the Greek word "treis," which also means "three."
The prefix tri comes from Latin tres, meaning three and Ancient Greek τtria, also meaning three.
In the word trickle, tri- is not a prefix. Trickle does not have a prefix. The letters tri- together to not always mean three.
The prefix tri- means three.
The Greek prefix for 1 is "mono-," for 2 is "di-," for 3 is "tri-," for 4 is "tetra-," for 5 is "penta-," for 6 is "hexa-," for 7 is "hepta-," for 8 is "octa-," for 9 is "ennea-," and for 10 is "deca-."
The prefix tri- in triceps means three. This prefix always means three.