tetramerous

American  

[te-tram-er-uhs] / tɛˈtræm ər əs /

adjective

1. consisting of or divided into four parts.

2. Botany. (of flowers) having the parts of a whorl arranged in fours or multiples of four.

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tetramerous British  

/ tɛˈtræmərəs /

adjective

1. (esp of animals or plants) having or consisting of four parts

2. (of certain flowers) having parts arranged in whorls of four members

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tetramerous Scientific  

/ tĕ-trăm′ər-əs /

1. Having four similar segments or parts.

2. Having flower parts, such as petals, sepals, and stamens, in sets of four.

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Other Word Forms

• tetramerism noun

Etymology

Origin of tetramerous

1820–30; < New Latin tetramerus < Greek tetramerḗs having four parts. See tetra-, -merous

Example Sentences

A flower in which the parts are arranged in twos is called dimerous; when the parts of the whorls are three, four or five, the flower is trimerous, tetramerous or pentamerous, respectively.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 5 "Fleury, Claude" to "Foraker" by Various

Rhynchophora, ring-kof′ō-ra, n.pl. a section of tetramerous coleopterous insects: the weevils.—adjs.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 3 of 4: N-R) by Various

Dimerous and tetramerous symmetry occur also among dicotyledons.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 5 "Fleury, Claude" to "Foraker" by Various

Thus trimerous fuchsias and tetramerous jasmines may frequently be met with, and Turpin describes a tetramerous flower of Cobæa scandens.

From Vegetable Teratology An Account of the Principal Deviations from the Usual Construction of Plants by Masters, Maxwell T.

In the British Adoxa the uppermost flower generally has two calyx-lobes with the other organs tetramerous, while the surrounding flowers generally have three calyx-lobes with the other organs pentamerous.

From The Origin of Species by means of Natural Selection, 6th Edition by Darwin, Charles