triptych

1. (art) A picture or series of pictures painted on three tablets connected by hinges.Examples: "I never thought breastfeeding would be hard. When I thought about it at all, my mind conjured beatific scenes suffused with a sort of religious glow. […] These days I envisage more of a triptych: the infant Jesus spluttering at the breast, face purple with hangry fury; the infant Jesus possetting milk down Mary’s front; the infant Jesus and the nappy explosion."

2. (by extension) A group of three people or works, especially when considered representative of a particular field or theme.Examples: "Thus, with the passing years, Papa Wemba, a hardworking and introverted man, has come to embody “African pop,” forming a triptych with Youssou N’Dour and Salif Keita."; "Woodson, the recipient of four Newbery Honor awards, has written her first adult novel in 20 years, returning to the Brooklyn setting of “Autobiography of a Family Photo” (1995) and her recent award-winning memoir, “Brown Girl Dreaming.” These works form a triptych of bildungsromans taking place in the author’s hometown and tracking her generation’s coming to adulthood."; "The show was the first in a triptych of excellent Australian dramas produced by John Edwards that tapped into the sensibility of a generation. It was followed by the thirtysomething drama, Love My Way, and Tangle, which focused on fortysomethings."broadly

3. (by extension) A group of three people or works, especially when considered representative of a particular field or theme.Examples: "The centerpiece of the show is a poised, luminous, tender, and diabolically clever video installation, “Le Triptyque de Noirmoutier” (The Noirmoutier Triptych), which Varda shot on 35-mm. film[…]. The man gets himself a bottle of beer; the older woman heads with dishes from the sink toward the cupboard—and crosses the dividing line of the triptych exactly like crossing a threshold."broadly

4. (by extension) A group of three people or works, especially when considered representative of a particular field or theme.broadly

5. (figurative) Any set of three closely connected ideas or objects.Examples: "Witchcraft, heresy, and counterfeiting formed a triptych in popular imagination and in the law."; "The interest here is […] to construct for heuristic purposes a triptych of different “roads to salvation” as reflected in domains of preaching of contemporary Egypt."; "There was nothing quite like Hanalei Bay, that great horseshoe of protected water fed by the thick artery of the Hanalei River and framed by a triptych of mountains."figuratively