tera-

1. a combining form used in the names of units of measure equal to one trillion of a given base unit:

   terahertz.

2. Computers. a combining form of like function with the value 2 40 (= 1,099,511,627,766).

tera-

prefix

1. denoting 10 ¹²

   terameter

2. Alsotebi- denoting 2 ⁴⁰

   terabyte

tera–

1. A prefix that means:
2. One trillion (10 ¹²), as in terahertz, one trillion hertz.
3. 2 ⁴⁰ (that is, 1,099,511,627,776), which is the power of two closest to a trillion, as in terabyte.

Word History and Origins

Origin of tera-¹

< Greek téras monster. See terato-

Word History and Origins

Origin of tera-¹

from Greek teras monster

Example Sentences

Tera was a rising star, and with Digital Playground, launched to the top in almost record time.

From The Daily Beast

Well-renowned adult superstar Tera Patrick has followed this successful philosophy with her company, TeraVision.

From The Daily Beast

There were Jenna Jameson, Tera Patrick, and Sasha Grey: all were well known in mainstream pop culture.

From The Daily Beast

Now, no one has a fair chance at what happened for Jenna, Tera, and me.

From The Daily Beast

The prefix for trillion, as we know from super-computer lingo, is “tera.”

From The Daily Beast

A Buddhist church (tera) is a place where adherents go as anniversaries come round or for sermons.

From Project Gutenberg

Tura only needs a change of one letter to make Tera, the father of Abraham.

From Project Gutenberg

Ko te tangata tera e mohio ana ki te whakairo rakau, that is the man who understands carving wood.

From Project Gutenberg

Tera is often used in an emphatic way for the personal pronoun of the third person singular.

From Project Gutenberg

Hymenopteral, hī-men-op′tėr-al, adj. pertaining to the Hymenop′tera, an order of insects having four membranous wings.

From Project Gutenberg

Words That Use tera-

What does tera- mean?

Tera- is a combining form used like a prefix meaning “one trillion.” It is often used in terms of measurement. In terms from computer science, such as terabyte, tera- means 2⁴⁰—which equals, well, a huge number.

Tera- comes from the Greek téras, meaning “monster.” Yes, “monster.” Discover more at our entry for terato-.

What are variants of tera-?

A synonym for tera-, as it is used in computer science to mean 2⁴⁰, is tebi-. Learn more about this combining form at our entry for tebi-.

Examples of tera-

One example of a technical term you may have seen that features the combining form tera- is terahertz, “one trillion (1012) hertz.”

The combining form tera- means “one trillion,” while a hertz is a unit of frequency. Terahertz literally translates to “one trillion hertz.”

What are some words that use the combining form tera-?

• terabit
• terabyte
• teraflop
• teravolt
• terawatt

What are some other forms that tera– may be commonly confused with?

• taur-
• tauro-
• tri-

Not every word that begins with the exact letters tera-, such as teraglin or terakihi, is necessarily using the combining forming tera- to denote “one trillion.” Learn what a terakihi is at our entry for the word.

Break it down!

In computer science, flop is an abbreviation of “floating point.” With this in mind, how many floating-point operations occur per second in a teraflop?