Picardy third

A Picardy third, Picardy cadence (/ˈpɪkərdi/) or, in French, tierce picarde is a harmonic device that originated in Western music in the Renaissance era.

It refers to the use of a major chord of the tonic at the end of a musical section that is either modal or in a minor key. This is achieved by raising the third of the expected minor triad by a semitone to create a major triad, as a form of resolution.