Definition of TRILOGY

Did You Know?

Dozens of tragic trilogies were written for the Greek stage, though only one, Aeschylus's great Oresteia (consisting of Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, *and *The Eumenides), has survived complete. Authors in later years have occasionally chosen to create trilogies to allow themselves to develop a highly complex story or cover a long span of time. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings wasn't actually intended as a trilogy, but since it was published in three volumes it's usually called one. George Lucas's three original Star Wars movies are an example of a film trilogy (which he followed many years later by another).

Examples of trilogy in a Sentence

the last book in the trilogy

Recent Examples on the Web

The last chapter of the original High School Musical trilogy ended 10 years ago this October, but now Disney Channel is reviving the hit franchise with a brand new TV series. — Stacey Grant, Seventeen, "Meet the New Characters on the "High School Musical" TV Series," 6 Sep. 2018 After debuting The Golden Compass in 2007 to little acclaim, the entertainment industry is trying once again to adapt His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman's beloved fantasy trilogy. — Chloe Foussianes, Town & Country, "The His Dark Materials Books Are Being Adapted into a TV Show. Here's Everything We Know.," 28 Feb. 2019 Sabrina boasts a stellar cast, most notably Lucy Davis (Etta Candy in Wonder Woman) as Sabrina's warmly addled Aunt Hilda, and Miranda Otto (Eowyn in The Lord of the Rings trilogy) as her strict, traditionalist Aunt Zelda. — Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, "Chilling Adventures of Sabrina," 18 Dec. 2018 But the real horror comes in Death’s End, the final book of the trilogy. — Verge Staff, The Verge, "Smart scares for smart people," 31 Oct. 2018 That is a role that would span all three movies of the intended trilogy. — Borys Kit, The Hollywood Reporter, "'Terminator' Reboot Taps Mackenzie Davis to Star," 8 Mar. 2018 On the more far-fetched end of the spectrum, The Sun reported that Ewan McGregor, who played Obi-Wan Kenobi in the prequel trilogy, would secretly film scenes for Episode IX, though the rumor has yet to be confirmed. — Adam Schubak, Popular Mechanics, "Everything We Know So Far About Star Wars Episode IX," 17 Sep. 2018 As the longest course in the trilogy at 1 1/2 miles, the track is ripe for an upset to steal away the laurels for itself. — Katherine Fominykh, baltimoresun.com, "How to watch the Belmont Stakes post draw: coverage, stream and odds," 5 June 2018 All three books in this trilogy are haunted by Faye's two sons. — Sebastian Smee, chicagotribune.com, "With 'Kudos,' Rachel Cusk completes a literary masterpiece," 30 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'trilogy.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.