English
Tetris
Tetris comes from Russian Те́трис, and goes back to Ancient Greek τέτταρες ‘Attic form of τέσσαρες’.
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEτέτταρες‘Attic form of τέσσαρες’
- RussianmodernТе́трисTétris
- Englishearliest quotation 1990Tetris
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEτέτταρες‘Attic form of τέσσαρες’
- RussianmodernТе́трисTétris
- Englishearliest quotation 1990Tetris
Earliest quotation: 1990, Et cetera: “For some it's staying low on the play field,…”
The story
From Russian Те́трис (Tétris), coined by the creator of the game, Alexey Pajitnov, from the Russian numerical prefix тетра- (tetra-, “tetra-”) (as all of the game's pieces contain four segments) and те́ннис (ténnis, “tennis”), his favourite sport.
Every English word from Ancient Greek τέτταρες
Today it means
name A puzzle video game in which falling tetrominoes must be manipulated to form complete lines, which are then cleared from the grid.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Ancient Greek τέτταρες / Tetris