tetralogy

American  

[te-tral-uh-jee, -trah-luh-] / tɛˈtræl ə dʒi, -ˈtrɑ lə- /

noun

plural

tetralogies

1. a series of four related dramas, operas, novels, etc.

2. a group of four dramas, three tragedies and one satyr play, performed consecutively at the festival of Dionysus in ancient Athens.

---

tetralogy British  

/ tɛˈtrælədʒɪ /

noun

1. a series of four related works, as in drama or opera

2. (in ancient Greece) a group of four dramas, the first three tragic and the last satiric

3. pathol a group of four symptoms present in one disorder, esp Fallot's tetralogy

---

Etymology

Origin of tetralogy

From the Greek word tetralogía, dating back to 1650–60. See tetra-, -logy

Example Sentences

Konieczny brought unusual charisma and nobility to the designated villain of Wagner’s epic tetralogy, and his Dutchman is likewise a complex creation.

From New York Times • May 31, 2023

This one was a tetralogy: The Filipino champion and his Mexican rival met four times over eight years.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 16, 2022

As director Francesca Zambello recently recalled in the New York Times, “Götterdämmerung,” the finale of the tetralogy, was the feminist, liberal, Jewish Supreme Court justice’s favorite opera.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 28, 2020

His magnum opus, the Aegypt tetralogy, took more than two decades to complete, and his readers, a patient and faithful bunch, have become grudgingly accustomed to the long intervals between books.

From Washington Post • Dec. 6, 2019

For the development of the great tetralogy, this is the most important scene of all, and, as such, it will probably meet with the necessary sympathy and attention.

From Correspondence of Wagner and Liszt — Volume 2 by Hueffer, Francis