tessera

[tes-er-uh]

noun, plural tes·ser·ae

[tes-uh-ree] /ˈtɛs əˌri/.

one of the small pieces used in mosaic work.
a small square of bone, wood, or the like, used in ancient times as a token, tally, ticket, etc.

Origin of tessera

1640–50; < Latin < Greek (Ionic) tésseres four

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for tessera

Historical Examples of tessera

But disappointment was in waiting,—the overseer would not give the tessera.
Quo Vadis
Henryk Sienkiewicz
But woe to the person who gives his tessera to a careless concierge!
Vistas in Sicily
Arthur Stanley Riggs
"We'll exchange the tessera hospitalis on it," exclaimed Paulus.
Catholic World, Vol. XI, April 1870-September 1870
Various
Ludus sit talis, tessera, saccho (ut nostra appellatione utur), carthis variis imaginibus pictis.
Facts and Speculations on the Origin and History of Playing Cards
William Andrew Chatto
The very earth within those walls had a reddish cast owing to the innumerable fragments of red tile and tessera mixed with it.
Afoot in England
W.H. Hudson

British Dictionary definitions for tessera

tessera

noun plural -serae (-səˌriː)

a small square tile of stone, glass, etc, used in mosaics
a die, tally, etc, used in classical times, made of bone or wood

Derived Formstesseral, adjective

Word Origin for tessera

C17: from Latin, from Ionic Greek tesseres four

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for tessera

plural tesserae, 1650s, from Latin tessera, from Ionic Greek tesseres (Attic tessares) "four" (see four).