Patricia tree

noun

A radix tree with radix of 2, meaning that each bit of the key is compared individually and each node is a two-way branch.

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Meanings

nounPatricia tree (plural Patricia trees)

plural Patricia trees · alternative Patricia trie · alternative PATRICIA tree

  1. computerA radix tree with radix of 2, meaning that each bit of the key is compared individually and each node is a two-way branch.

    A Patricia tree stores keys in its internal nodes, while would-be leaf pointers point to internal node.

    1994, Saumyendra Sengupta, Carl P. Korobkin, C++: Object-Oriented Data Structures, Springer, →ISBN, page 505

Origin

Coined by Donald R. Morrison in 1968, as an acronym of practical algorithm to retrieve information coded in alphanumeric, designed to spell out the name Patricia.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

Patricia tree. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Patricia%20tree

MLA

“Patricia tree.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Patricia%20tree. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Patricia tree,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Patricia%20tree.

Source: Patricia tree on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.