tetraquark

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noun

A hypothetical meson composed of four valence quarks.

OriginEnglish quark ← Ancient Greek τετρᾰ- (tetră-) ← Proto-Hellenic *kʷétwores →
Scrabble 23
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Meanings

nountetraquark (plural tetraquarks)

plural tetraquarks

  1. natural sciencesA hypothetical meson composed of four valence quarks.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*kʷetwóres
  2. Proto-Hellenic*kʷétwores
  3. Ancient Greekτέσσᾰρες (téssăres)
  4. Ancient Greekτετρᾰ- (tetră-)
  5. Englishtetra-
  6. Englishquark
  7. Englishtetraquark

From tetra- + quark.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 四夸克態
  • 四夸克態 (sìkuākètài)hypothetical meson
French tétraquark
  • tétraquarkhypothetical meson
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

“tetraquark.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tetraquark. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tetraquark,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tetraquark.

Source: tetraquark on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.