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Terat- is a combining form used like a prefix meaning “monster.” It is used in some scientific and medical terms, including in pathology, or to indicate something especially unusual or abnormal in size, composition, or appearance.

Terat- comes from the Greek ��é������, meaning “monster, marvel.” The combining form tera-, as in terabyte, shares the same Greek root, though tera- is used to mean “trillion.” Learn more in our 51�Թ�s That Use article for the form tera-.

What are variants of terat-?

Terat- is a variant of terato-, which loses its -o- when combined with words or word elements beginning with vowels.

Want to know more? Read our 51�Թ�s That Use terato– article.

An example of a word you may have seen that features terat- is teratoma, “a tumor made up of different types of tissue.”

The first part of the word, terat-, means “monster,” while the form -oma is used to form names of tumors or swellings. Teratoma literally translates to “monster tumor,” that is, an abnormally large tumor.

What are some words that use the combining form terat-?

• teratism
• teratoid
• tetatosis

What are some other forms that terat- may be commonly confused with?

• ter-
• tetra-
• thanato-
• thaumato-

The suffix -oid means “resembling” or “like.” With this in mind, what does teratoid mean?