tetramerous

American  

[te-tram-er-uhs] / tɛˈtræm ər əs /

adjective

1. consisting of or divided into four parts.

2. Botany. (of flowers) having the parts of a whorl arranged in fours or multiples of four.

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tetramerous British  

/ tɛˈtræmərəs /

adjective

1. (esp of animals or plants) having or consisting of four parts

2. (of certain flowers) having parts arranged in whorls of four members

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tetramerous Scientific  

/ tĕ-trăm′ər-əs /

1. Having four similar segments or parts.

2. Having flower parts, such as petals, sepals, and stamens, in sets of four.

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Other Word Forms

• tetramerism noun

Etymology

Origin of tetramerous

1820–30; < New Latin tetramerus < Greek tetramerḗs having four parts. See tetra-, -merous

Example Sentences

Rhynchophora, ring-kof′ō-ra, n.pl. a section of tetramerous coleopterous insects: the weevils.—adjs.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 3 of 4: N-R) by Various

Dimerous and tetramerous symmetry occur also among dicotyledons.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 5 "Fleury, Claude" to "Foraker" by Various

In the British Adoxa the uppermost flower generally has two calyx-lobes with the other organs tetramerous, while the surrounding flowers generally have three calyx-lobes with the other organs pentamerous.

From The Origin of Species by means of Natural Selection, 6th Edition by Darwin, Charles

A flower in which the parts are arranged in twos is called dimerous; when the parts of the whorls are three, four or five, the flower is trimerous, tetramerous or pentamerous, respectively.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 5 "Fleury, Claude" to "Foraker" by Various

Thus trimerous fuchsias and tetramerous jasmines may frequently be met with, and Turpin describes a tetramerous flower of Cobæa scandens.

From Vegetable Teratology An Account of the Principal Deviations from the Usual Construction of Plants by Masters, Maxwell T.