Ch. Hist. [ad. late Gr. τετραδίτης, pl. -αι, f. τετράς, -αδ- TETRAD: see -ITE 1.] (See quots.)
1727–41. Chambers, Cycl., Tetraditæ, Tetradites, in antiquity, a name given to several different sects of heretics, out of some particular respect they bore to the number four.
1842. Brande, Dict. Sc., etc., Tetradites,… the Manichees and others, who believed the Godhead to consist of four instead of three persons, bore this name.
1882–3. Schaff’s Encycl. Relig. Knowl., I. 601. Their adversaries called them Tetradites, Τετραδίται, because they had four gods—the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, and the Divine Being—in which those three were united.
