tetra-
or tetr-pref.1. Four: tetrode.
2. Containing four of a specified kind of atom, radical, or group: tetrachloride.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
tetra-
or before a vowel tetr-
combining formfour: tetrameter.
[from Greek]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
tet•ra
(ˈtɛ trə)
n., pl. -ras. any of several small, brightly colored characin fishes, of tropical American waters.
[1930–35; shortening of New Latin
Tetragonopterus former genus name. See
tetragon,
-o-,
-pterous]
tetra-
a combining form meaning “four”: tetralogy.
Also, esp. before a vowel,tetr-.[< Greek, comb. form of
téttares four]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.