I would argue that, yes, someone who speaks Russian, Chinese and Amhari is more trilingual than someone who speaks Spanish, Portugese and Italian.
Taking myself as an example, I learned French in junior high (between the ages of 12-14), never lived in a French speaking country, and never learned a word of Spanish - and yet, I can read and understand simple Spanish. If I upgraded that to full-spanish, I wouldn't count it as a "whole new language".
(p.s. my mother tongue is neither English, nor is it Latin, Germanic or anything else that might have any remote connection to English, French or Spanish)
Taking myself as an example, I learned French in junior high (between the ages of 12-14), never lived in a French speaking country, and never learned a word of Spanish - and yet, I can read and understand simple Spanish. If I upgraded that to full-spanish, I wouldn't count it as a "whole new language".
(p.s. my mother tongue is neither English, nor is it Latin, Germanic or anything else that might have any remote connection to English, French or Spanish)