Standard Lemma guide

tetrarchy

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

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • 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