Thrice means three times. If you read a chapter thrice, you've read it once, then again, and then one more time. If a recipe calls for stirring thrice, you stir three separate times.

The word sounds more formal or old-fashioned than simply saying “three times.” You'll encounter it in older books, poems, and fairy tales. In A Christmas Carol, the Ghost of Christmas Past visits Ebenezer Scrooge as part of a group of three spirits, and ghosts in stories famously knock thrice on doors or walls. Shakespeare used the word frequently in his plays.

Today, people rarely use thrice in everyday conversation. You're more likely to hear “three times” at school or with friends. But writers still reach for thrice when they want their language to sound more rhythmic, dramatic, or ceremonial. A judge might strike a gavel thrice to open court, or someone reciting a poem might say a magical phrase must be spoken thrice to work.

The pattern follows other old number words: once (one time), twice (two times), and thrice (three times). English lost similar words for four times and beyond, but these three survived.