Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

tetra

/ˈtɛ.tɹə/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.72 in modern English

Syllables: tetra
IPA: /ˈtɛ.tɹə/

5

Scrabble Score

5

Letters

2

Syllables

4

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

Any of numerous species of small freshwater fish of the South American family Characidae and West African family Alestidae, popular in home aquariums.

Example Sentences

"Among them were ancient relatives of the piranhas and those popular aquarium fish the tetras, along with garfish and freshwater coelacanths, known as mawsonids."

Etymology

From translingual Tetragonopterus, an obsolete genus that included these fish, ultimately from Ancient Greek τετράγωνος (tetrágōnos, “square, quadrilateral”) + πτερόν (pterón, “wing, fin”).

Origin

Source language: Ancient Greek

Word Breakdown

Root: τετράγωνος

Inflected Forms

tetras (plural)

Phrases

Adonis tetra African long-finned tetra African moon tetra Arnold's tetra banded tetra bandtail tetra barred glass tetra beacon tetra

Homonyms

tetra-

Rhymes With

petra metra

Questions

How do you pronounce tetra?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈtɛ.tɹə/.
What does tetra mean?: Any of numerous species of small freshwater fish of the South American family Characidae and West African family Alestidae, popular in home aquariums.
Where does tetra come from?: It is traced to Ancient Greek.

How to pronounce tetra

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “tetra”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈtɛ.tɹə/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “tetra”.
Repeat and practice — Say “tetra” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.