tetration
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tetration
- /tɛˈtɹeɪʃn̩/ UK
- /tɛˈtɹeɪʃən/ US
Rhymes with -eɪʃən
Where it comes from
PIE word
*kʷetwóres
From tetra- (prefix meaning ‘four’) + (itera)tion, from the fact that tetration is in fourth place after addition, multiplication, and exponentiation. The word was coined by the English mathematician Reuben Goodstein (1912–1985).
noun tetrations
-
The arithmetic operator consisting of repeated exponentiation, by analogy with exponentiation being repeated multiplication and multiplication being repeated addition, ᵇᵃ denoting a to the power of a to the power of … to the power of a, in which a appears b times.
You don't ordinarily hear much about tetration because it is so powerful an operation that tetrating even very small numbers with each other produces inordinately large numbers. A tetration is worked out below.
⁴²#61;2#123;(2#123;(#123;2²#125;)#125;)#125;
#61;2#123;(#123;2⁴#125;)#125;
#61;2#123;16
Similar: exponential map, hyper4, hyperpower, power tower, superexponentiation
Translations
Every language
noun arithmetic operator consisting of repeated exponentiation
| Español | tetración |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 테트레이션 teteureisyeon |
| 日本語 | テトレーション tetorēshon |
| 中文 | 超-4運算 /超-4运算 chāo-4 yùnsuàn |
| Português | tetração |
| Français | tétration |
| Deutsch | Tetration, Potenzturm |
| Italiano | tetrazione |
| Română | tetrația |
| Русский | тетра́ция tetrácija |
| עברית | טטרציה |
Talk about this word "tetration." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/tetration. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. tetration. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/tetration "tetration." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/tetration.Cite this
@misc{tetration_2026,
title = {tetration},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/tetration},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
