noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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Received-Pronunciation:/ˈtɛtɹɑːki/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
General-American:/ˈtɛtɹɑɹki/
General-American:tĕtʹrärkē
1
noun
Meaning 1
A government where power is shared by four people, especially (historical) the Herodian tetrarchy established in Judea after the death of Herod and the Tetrarchy of Diocletian which ruled the Roman Empire in the years 293-313.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: government, politics
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
The land ruled by such a government, either together or separately.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: geography, natural-sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
From Latin tetrarchia, from Ancient Greek τετραρχία (tetrarkhía), from τετρα- (tetra-, “four”) + -αρχία (-arkhía, “-archy: rule”), equivalent to tetra- + -archy.
Across languages
Translations
40 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Armenian:
տետրախիա
(tetraxia)
— government by four people
Asturian:
tetrarquia
— government by four people
Bulgarian:
тетрархия
(tetrarhija)
— government by four people
Catalan:
tetrarquia
— government by four people
Chinese Mandarin:
四帝共治
(sìdìgòngzhì)
— government by four people
Czech:
tetrarchie
— government by four people
Danish:
tetrarki
— government by four people
Dutch:
tetrarchie
— government by four people
Esperanto:
tetrarkio
— government by four people
Finnish:
tetrarkia
— government by four people
French:
tétrarchie
— government by four people
Georgian:
ტეტრარქია
(ṭeṭrarkia)
— government by four people
Georgian:
ოთხთა მმართველობა
(otxta mmartveloba)
— government by four people
German:
Tetrarchie
— government by four people
Greek:
τετραρχία
(tetrarchía)
— government by four people
Ancient Greek:
τετραρχίᾱ
(tetrarkhíā)
— government by four people
Hungarian:
tetrarchia
— government by four people
Ido:
tetrarchie
— government by four people
Indonesian:
tetrarki
— government by four people
Interlingua:
tetrarchia
— government by four people
Italian:
tetrarchia
— government by four people
Japanese:
四分統治
— government by four people
Korean:
사두정치
(sadujeongchi)
— government by four people
Latin:
tetrarchia
— government by four people
Luxembourgish:
tetrarchie
— government by four people
Macedonian:
тетрархија
(tetrarhija)
— government by four people
Norwegian Bokmål:
tetrarki
— government by four people
Norwegian Nynorsk:
tetrarki
— government by four people
Polish:
tetrarchia
— government by four people
Portuguese:
tetrarquia
— government by four people
Romanian:
tetrarhie
— government by four people
Russian:
тетра́рхия
(tetrárxija)
— government by four people
Serbo-Croatian:
тетрархија
— government by four people
Serbo-Croatian:
tetrarhija
— government by four people
Slovak:
tetrarchia
— government by four people
Slovene:
tetrarhija
— government by four people
Spanish:
tetrarquía
— government by four people
Swedish:
tetrarki
— government by four people
Turkish:
tetrarşi
— government by four people
Ukrainian:
тетра́рхія
(tetrárxija)
— government by four people