Skip to main content
tetralogy

tetralogy

1 9.6
A set of four related plays, books, or operas
  • noun
  • /tɛˈtrælədʒi/
  • Literature
translation icon : tetralogía
  • We only have a hundred copies of Sophocles, seven copies of Plato's tetralogies and only five copies of anything by Aristotle.

Examples

  • Donald Meinig has told me more than once that the inspiration for his monumental tetralogy on The Shaping of America was ignited during that casual junket of ours.

    Academic text (2001)
  • Chernevog, part 2 of the Rusalka trilogy co-written by CJ and Jane; and Orion's Children, a tetralogy from Lynn.

    Blog text (9)
  • From long, local hikes, he knew the lay of the land before he scripted the scores for his tetralogy.

    Academic text (1998)
  • This is a wide-ranging and indeed insightful essay, which in New Historicist fashion relates the first published account of the colonization of Virginia, written by Thomas Harriot, to Shakespeare's portrayal of political authority in the Second Tetralogy of his history plays.

    Academic text (1993)
  • Updike's language as well—the ever-youthful hero of the tetralogy—reverberates through the novels with widely scattered refrains and sly internal references.

    Fiction book (2000)
  • The author's latest work is a remarkable tetralogy that explores the complexities of human relationships.

  • In her new tetralogy, each novel tells a different story but intertwines the lives of the characters.

  • The film series is based on a tetralogy of novels that have gained a large following over the years.

Synonyms

quadrilogy
vstetralogy
1 8.0

A set of four related books or films that form one story

means the same but highlights literary and dramatic examples such as plays or operas

Compounds

Fallot's tetralogy
  • Specialized
9.5

A heart problem present at birth that makes the skin turn blue because four parts of the heart are wrong

tetralogy of Fallot
  • Specialized
7.3

A heart problem present at birth with four defects that change blood flow

Surface Forms

tetralogy singular
tetralogies plural

Morphology

tetralogy = tetra + logy

The classical elements indicate 'four' plus a learned formation, but the specific meaning of a set of four literary or dramatic works is specialized rather than fully predictable for an average learner.

Etymology

Tetralogy comes from the Greek part tetra- meaning 'four' and is like the familiar word trilogy, which means 'three works'. That's why a tetralogy is a connected series of four plays, operas, or novels.