tetrahedron

[ te-truh-hee-druhn ]

noun

, plural tet·ra·he·drons, tet·ra·he·dra [te-tr, uh, -, hee, -dr, uh].

1. Geometry. a solid contained by four plane faces; a triangular pyramid.
2. any of various objects resembling a tetrahedron in the distribution of its faces or apexes.

tetrahedron

/ ˌtɛtrəˈhiːdrən /

noun

1. a solid figure having four plane faces. A regular tetrahedron has faces that are equilateral triangles See also polyhedron
2. any object shaped like a tetrahedron

tetrahedron

/ tĕt′rə-hē′drən /

, Plural tetrahedrons

1. A polyhedron having four faces.

Derived Forms

• ˌtetraˈhedral, adjective
• ˌtetraˈhedrally, adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of tetrahedron¹

1560–70; tetra- + -hedron, modeled on Late Greek tetráedron, noun use of neuter of tetráedros four-sided

Word History and Origins

Origin of tetrahedron¹

C16: from New Latin, from Late Greek tetraedron; see tetra- , -hedron

Example Sentences

Furthermore, in 1980 Hans Debrunner showed that any tetrahedron that tiles space must have a Dehn invariant of 0 — the same as a cube.

From Quanta Magazine

The tetrahedron is the simplest three-dimensional shape with flat sides.

From Quanta Magazine

It establishes that there are exactly 59 isolated examples plus two infinite families of tetrahedra that meet this condition.

From Quanta Magazine

On the cube, tetrahedron, octahedron and icosahedron, any straight path that starts and ends on the same vertex must pass through some other vertex along the way.

From Quanta Magazine

Imagine starting from a vertex of a tetrahedron and heading out on a straight path along a face.

From Quanta Magazine

Kailas turns a sharp edge to the north, and from here the peak resembles a tetrahedron more than ever.

From Project Gutenberg

The most simple of all would have been the tetrahedron, or pyramid built upon a triangular base.

From Project Gutenberg

At the vertices of a regular tetrahedron may be found such points.

From Project Gutenberg

Above the tetrahedron is a balloon-shaped figure, apparently drawn into shape by the attraction of the tetrahedron.

From Project Gutenberg

This puzzle concerns the painting of the four sides of a tetrahedron, or triangular pyramid.

From Project Gutenberg