tetrad meaning

Noun: tetrad  tetrad

1. The cardinal number that is the sum of three and one
   - four, 4, IV, quatern, quaternion, quaternary, quaternity, quartet, quadruplet, foursome, Little Joe

Derived forms: tetrads

Type of: digit, figure

Encyclopedia: Tetrad

[Medicine]
n : a group or arrangement of four: as
a : a tetravalent element, atom, or radical
b : a group of four cells arranged usu. in the form of a tetrahedron and produced by the successive divisions of a mother cell ‹a tetrad of spores›
c : a group of four synapsed chromatids that become visibly evident in the pachytene stage of meiotic prophase and are produced by the longitudinal splitting of each of two paired homologous chromosomes

Examples

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1. the tetrads eventually shrivel or are resorbed.
2. at this point esch chromosome consist of a pair of chromatids and the two associated chromosomes are termed a tetrad
3. The tetrad ) synapses that connect a pair of postsynaptic elements.
4. The scolex also has four suckers, or a tetrad.
5. In 1970, Tetrad Press put out a small edition.