tera-, prefix
(ˈtɛrə)
[f. Gr. τέρας monster.]
Prefixed to the names of units to form the names of units 1012 (one millon million) times larger (symbol T), as terabit [bit n.4], tera-electron-volt, tera-hertz, tera-pascal, tera-second, tera-volt, tera-watt (hence tera-watt-hour, tera-year).
| [1947 Compt. Rend. de la 14ème Conf. (Union Internat. de Chimie) 115 The following prefixes to abbreviations for the names of units should be used to indicate the specified multiples or sub-multiples of these units: T tira- 1012 ×.] 1951 Symbols, Signs & Abbreviations (R. Soc.) 15 Tera (× 1012) T. |
| 1971 New Scientist 8 July 80/2 A bigger machine..which will be available next year, will have a 50-terabit memory with only slightly slower cycle time of 100 nanoseconds. |
| 1974 Sci. Amer. Feb. 82/2 An energy of 1,000 GeV (one teraelectron-volt, or TeV) does not seem an impossible goal. |
| 1970 McGraw-Hill Yearbk. Sci. & Technol. 233/1 M. A. Duguay and coworkers..tuned a mode-locked He-Ne laser..from -45 to +45 GHz, about the central optical frequency of 473·61 terahertz. |
| 1980 Nature 21 Feb. 715/1 In relatively simple experiments laser-driven shock waves can be used to study the propagation of shocks in solids for shock pressures up to terapascals (1 TPa = 107 bar = 1013 dyne cm-2). |
| 1969 Proc. Geol. Soc. Aug. 142 Alternatively the second of time may prove to be a more convenient unit as recommended by S.I., thus 1 million years (m.y.) = 31·557 tera seconds (Ts). |
| 1975 Sci. Amer. Feb. 40/2 A development program looking toward the creation of a proton beam of about 1,000 GeV, or one teravolt (TeV). |
| 1970 Britannica Bk. of Year 322/2 It had an output of 4 trillion watts (4 terawatts). 1972 Physics Bull. Mar. 175/2 The terawatt carbon dioxide laser may not be far away. 1979 Internat. Atomic Energy Agency Bull. Jan. 7 Let us consider two scenarios which would lead to a total primary energy consumption rate of 50 terawatts (50 000 000 MW) at the end of the next century. 1979 Times 11 Dec. 18 The American Department of Energy, Dr Musgrove says,..could economically produce 500 tera-watt-hours (500 million mega-watt-hours) of electricity. 1980 Sci. Amer. Sept. 111/1 From the base year of the IIASA study (1975) to 2030 the total primary-energy consumption rate is projected to rise from 8.2 terawatt-years per year to 36 terawatt-years per year in the high-growth scenario and to 22 terawatt-years per year in the low-growth one. |