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

One part copper, two parts vanadium and four parts sulfur, the alloy features a 3D pyrochlore lattice consisting of corner-sharing tetrahedra.

From Science Daily

For example, a tetrahedron, a solid three-dimensional pyramid with four triangular faces, would fill in a group of four neurons firing together.

From Scientific American

Off the shores of Long Beach, where sails could catch wind, a white fleet clustered around orange buoys shaped like tetrahedrons.

From Los Angeles Times

It’s actually a tetrahedron from which all kinds of creative characters pop forth.

From New York Times

Bell and his team, called the Aerial Experiment Association, ultimately focused their kite designs on tetrahedrons, or pyramids made of four triangles, and biplane structures, several of which used red silk.

From Scientific American