tetralogy

[te-tral-uh-jee, -trah-luh-]

See more synonyms for tetralogy on Thesaurus.com

noun, plural te·tral·o·gies.

a series of four related dramas, operas, novels, etc.
a group of four dramas, three tragedies and one satyr play, performed consecutively at the festival of Dionysus in ancient Athens.

Origin of tetralogy

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

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

Related Words for tetralogy

tetralogy, tetrad, quaternity, quadrivium, quadruplet, quadruple, quaternion, quaternary, quadrumvirate, quartet, quadrigeminal

Examples from the Web for tetralogy

Historical Examples of tetralogy

This first part of the Tetralogy, which is the prologue, was not divided into acts.
Wagner at Home
Judith Gautier
The work of Gringore, just noticed, forms part of such a tetralogy.
A Short History of French Literature
George Saintsbury
The first act of Siegfried is one of the most dramatic in the Tetralogy.
Musicians of To-Day
Romain Rolland
He must be competently instructed in the tetralogy, or first four rules.
Papers and proceedings of the thirty-fifth general meeting of the American Library Association, 1913
Various
He saw what was happening there with regard to matters of art, and that he could not dream of producing his tetralogy.
Wagner at Home
Judith Gautier

British Dictionary definitions for tetralogy

tetralogy

noun plural -gies

a series of four related works, as in drama or opera
(in ancient Greece) a group of four dramas, the first three tragic and the last satiric
pathol a group of four symptoms present in one disorder, esp Fallot's tetralogy

Word Origin for tetralogy

C17: from Greek tetralogia; see tetra-, -logy

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 tetralogy

1650s, from Greek tetralogia, from tetra- (see tetra-) + -logia (see -logy).

tetralogy in Medicine

tetralogy

[tĕ-trăl′ə-jē, -trŏl′-]

A complex of four symptoms.