Word of the Day:

July 15, 2012

tetralogy

noun teh-TRAH-luh-jee

What it Means

: a series of four connected literary, artistic, or musical works

Tetralogy in Context

The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy: A Trilogy in Four Parts (as it was published in England) is, as the name rather coyly intimates, a tetralogy of Douglas Adams novels. "Vintage has reissued Ford Madox Ford's Parade's End, a massive tetralogy of novels about England's cascading misfortunes during World War I." - From a review by Scott Eyman in Palm Beach Post (Florida), April 15, 2012

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Did You Know?

The original tetralogies were sets of four plays (three tragedies and a comedy) performed serially on the Athenian stages of ancient Greece. These sets of plays were similar to the "trilogy," a group of three serial Greek tragedies. The word "tetralogy" is from the Greek combining form "tetra-," meaning "four," joined with the combining form "-logia," which in turn comes from "logos," meaning "word." Other "tetra-" words include "tetrahedron" (a solid shape formed by four flat faces) and "tetrapod" (a vertebrate with two pairs of limbs).

Word Family Quiz

What relative of "tetrology" can refer to words spoken or written as an expression of regret for having done or said something wrong? The answer is ...

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