tera-

See also: Appendix:Variations of "tera"

English

Etymology

From Ancient Greek τέρας (téras, “monster”). Also from Ancient Greek τέτταρες (téttares, “four”), by analogy with tetra- for being the fourth power of 10³. Doublet of terato-.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈtɛ.ɹə/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Prefix

SI prefix

T	Previous:	giga-
	Next:	peta-

tera-

2. In the International System of Units and other metric systems of units, multiplying the unit to which it is attached by 10¹² (short scale trillion or long scale billion).

   Alternative form: T- (symbol)

   Antonym: pico- (10⁻¹²)

   Coordinate term: see at Wikipedia > bit and byte prefixes

   Near-synonym: T

   a 2-terawatt increase

4. (now deprecated, but still in common use) tebi- (2⁴⁰ = 1024⁴).

   Alternative form: T- (symbol)

   Synonym: Ti- (symbol)

   Coordinate term: see at Wikipedia > bit and byte prefixes

   a 2-terabyte hard drive

Derived terms

English terms prefixed with tera-

tera amp

tera-amp

teraampere

terabase

terabaud

terabit

terabuck

terabyte

teracycle

teraelectron volt

teraelectronvolt

terafeature

teraflop

teragram

teragramme

terahash

terahertz

tera-joule

terajoule

teraliter

teralitre

teralumen

terameter

terametre

tera-ohm

teraohm

teraop

teraparsec

terapixel

terascale

terasecond

teraton

tera-volt

teravolt

teravoxel

tera-watt

terawatt

terawatt hour

terawatt-hour

terawatt-year

• tebi-
• terabyte
• teraelectron volt
• teraflare
• teragram
• terahertz, THz
• terameter
• terasecond
• tera win

Translations

SI prefix

• Bulgarian: тера- (tera-)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 太- (taai³)

  Mandarin: 太- (zh) (tài-) (mainland China), 太拉- (tàilā-) (mainland China), 兆- (zh) (zhào) (Taiwan)

• Czech: tera- (cs)
• Dutch: tera- (nl)
• Finnish: tera- (fi)
• French: téra- (fr)
• Galician: tera- (gl)
• German: tera- (de)
• Greek: τερα- (tera-)
• Hungarian: tera- (hu)
• Ido: tera-
• Indonesian: tera-
• Japanese: テラ- (tera-)
• Korean: 테라- (tera-)
• Macedonian: тера- (mk) (tera-)
• Malay: tera- (ms)
• Polish: tera- (pl)
• Portuguese: tera- (pt)
• Russian: тера- (ru) (tera-)
• Spanish: tera- (es)
• Thai: เทระ- (tee-rá)
• Vietnamese: tê-ra

Anagrams

• 'eart, Ater, Reta, aret, arte-, rate, tare, tear

Czech

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *kʷer-

Proto-Indo-European *kʷértder.

Ancient Greek τέρας (téras)der.

Czech tera-

Derived from Ancient Greek τέρας (téras, “monster”).

Prefix

tera-

1. tera-

Derived terms

Czech terms prefixed with tera-

terabajt

terabit

terabyte

terajoule

terawatt

Further reading

• “tera-”, in Kartotéka Novočeského lexikálního archivu (in Czech)
• tera- in Slovník afixů užívaných v češtině, 2017

Dutch

Etymology

From Ancient Greek τέρας (téras, “monster”).

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Prefix

tera-

1. tera-

Derived terms

Dutch terms prefixed with tera-

tera-ampère

teraseconde

Finnish

Etymology

Internationalism (see English tera-), ultimately from Ancient Greek τέρας (téras).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈterɑ-/, [ˈt̪e̞rɑ̝-]

Prefix

tera-

1. tera-

Further reading

• “tera-”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[1] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 3 July 2023

German

Etymology

From Ancient Greek τέρας (téras, “monster”).

Prefix

tera-

1. tera-

Derived terms

German terms prefixed with tera-

Terawatt

Further reading

• “tera-” in Duden online
• “tera-”, in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache‎^[2] (in German)

Portuguese

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *kʷer-

Proto-Indo-European *kʷértder.

Ancient Greek τέρας (téras)der.

Portuguese tera-

Derived from Ancient Greek τέρας (téras, “monster”).

Prefix

tera-

1. tera- (SI prefix indicating 10¹², a trillion)
2. tebi- (IEC prefix indicating 2⁴⁰)

Derived terms

Portuguese terms prefixed with tera-

terabit

terabyte

Further reading

• “tera-”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “tera-”, in Dicionário Infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2026
• “tera-”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *kʷer-

Proto-Indo-European *kʷértder.

Ancient Greek τέρας (téras)der.

Spanish tera-

Derived from Ancient Greek τέρας (téras, “monster”).

Prefix

tera-

1. tera- (SI prefix multiplying the unit by 10¹²)
2. (computing) tebi- (IEC prefix multiplying the unit by 2⁴⁰)

Derived terms

Spanish terms prefixed with tera-

terabit

terabyte

Further reading

• “tera-”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025