There are two methods of analysis for determining ternary intrinsic diffusion coefficients from experiment. In the first, the coefficients are derived from measurements of the mutual coefficients and the Kirkendall marker shifts. The experimental difficulties of making such measurements in ternary systems are formidable. As an alternative, a measurement of the tracer coefficients and the three independent mutual coefficients allows the calculation of the six intrinsic coefficients, and as a by-product yields the basis for calculating the Kirkendall shifts and estimating the thermodynamic properties of the solution.It is demonstrated by an approximate thermodynamic analysis for dilute solutions that the Kirkendall effect in ternary solution is the weighted mean of the effects for the two binary solute–solvent systems included and, therefore, has no unique significance. When one of the solutes is an interstitial, the Kirkendall behavior is approximately that of the substitutional binary pair.