E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Trine.
In astrology, a planet distant from another one-third of the circle is said to be in trine; one-fourth, it is in square; one-sixth or two signs, it is in sextile; but when, one-half distant, it is said to be “opposite.”
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“In sextile, square, and trine, and opposite
Of noxious efficacy.”
Milton: Paradise Lost, x. 659.
N.B. Planets distant from each other six signs or half a circle have opposite influences, and are therefore opposed to each other.
