: a group or arrangement of four: such as
a
: a group of four cells produced by the successive divisions of a mother cell
a tetrad of spores
b
: a group of four synapsed chromatids that become visibly evident in the pachytene stage of meiotic prophase
Examples of tetrad in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The eclipse series is called a lunar tetrad and is very variable with time.
—
Joe Rao, Space.com, 6 Mar. 2025
My preference for tetrads makes sense only because of my husband.
—Weike Wang, The New Yorker, 17 Aug. 2024
Chris Colin’s fascinating Wired feature skirts that tetrad, instead tracing the evolving norms around supporting a person when their inward journey goes to dark places.
—Longreads, 7 July 2023
And the tetrad are –the elements of that are – narcissism, paranoia, Machiavellianism and sadism.
—CBS News, 29 Mar. 2023
In One Night in Miami, the feature film debut from director Regina King, actors Eli Goree, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Aldis Hodge, and Leslie Odom Jr. have the difficult task of embodying the iconic tetrad of Cassius Clay (later known as Muhammad Ali), Malcolm X, Jim Brown, and Sam Cooke, respectively.
—Marcus Jones, EW.com, 15 Sep. 2020
There's also little justification for retaining haploid genetics, fungal genetics, tetrad analysis, and classical somatic-cell genetics in an introductory genetics course.
—Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 4 July 2012
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Joe Rao, Space.com, 6 Mar. 2025
My preference for tetrads makes sense only because of my husband.
—Weike Wang, The New Yorker, 17 Aug. 2024
Chris Colin’s fascinating Wired feature skirts that tetrad, instead tracing the evolving norms around supporting a person when their inward journey goes to dark places.
—Longreads, 7 July 2023
And the tetrad are –the elements of that are – narcissism, paranoia, Machiavellianism and sadism.
—CBS News, 29 Mar. 2023
In One Night in Miami, the feature film debut from director Regina King, actors Eli Goree, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Aldis Hodge, and Leslie Odom Jr. have the difficult task of embodying the iconic tetrad of Cassius Clay (later known as Muhammad Ali), Malcolm X, Jim Brown, and Sam Cooke, respectively.
—Marcus Jones, EW.com, 15 Sep. 2020
There's also little justification for retaining haploid genetics, fungal genetics, tetrad analysis, and classical somatic-cell genetics in an introductory genetics course.
—Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 4 July 2012
Cite this Entry
“Tetrad.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tetrad. Accessed 30 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
tetrad
noun
tet·rad
ˈte-ˌtrad 
: a group or arrangement of four: as
a
: a tetravalent element, atom, or radical
b
: a group of four cells arranged usually in the form of a tetrahedron and produced by the successive divisions of a mother cell
a tetrad of spores
c
: a group of four synapsed chromatids that become visibly evident in the pachytene stage of meiotic prophase and are produced by the longitudinal splitting of each of two paired homologous chromosomes
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share