tera-

Tera- is a combining form used like a prefix meaning “one trillion.” It is often used in terms of measurement. In terms from computer science, such as terabyte, tera- means 2⁴⁰—which equals, well, a huge number.

Tera- comes from the Greek ��é������, meaning “monster.” Yes, “monster.” Discover more at our entry for terato-.

������ are variants of tera-?

A synonym for tera-, as it is used in computer science to mean 2⁴⁰, is tebi-. Learn more about this combining form at our entry for tebi-.

One example of a technical term you may have seen that features the combining form tera- is terahertz, “one trillion (1012) hertz.”

The combining form tera- means “one trillion,” while a hertz is a unit of frequency. Terahertz literally translates to “one trillion hertz.”

������ are some words that use the combining form tera-?

• terabit
• terabyte
• teraflop
• teravolt
• terawatt

������ are some other forms that tera– may be commonly confused with?

• taur-
• tauro-
• tri-

Not every word that begins with the exact letters tera-, such as teraglin or terakihi, is necessarily using the combining forming tera- to denote “one trillion.” Learn what a terakihi is at our entry for the word.

In computer science, flop is an abbreviation of “floating point.” With this in mind, how many floating-point operations occur per second in a teraflop?