Tuple names

In philosophy, mathematics, and computer science, a **tuple** is an ordered list of elements. The term _tuple_ originates from the sequence of names for such ordered lists, beginning with _single_, _double_, _triple_, and so forth (see table below: 0 to 1000-tuple). The specific name of a tuple depends on the number of elements it contains, typically indicated by a prefix derived from Latin or Greek numbering and then adding the suffix "-tuple".

While the names of tuples are straightforward and common knowledge up to a certain number, they become less commonly used and more complex for higher numbers. For these, the latin/greek derived terms are rarely used in practice, and the notation "-tuple" is preferred, where  is the number of elements.

In computer science, tuples are used to group a fixed number of items, often implemented as product types in functional programming languages. Tuples are also utilized in relational databases to describe rows or records. In this context, each row in a table can be considered a tuple, with its elements corresponding to the fields of the row.

Tuples are usually denoted by listing the elements within parentheses "", separated by commas; for example,  represents a 3-tuple. In some contexts, other delimiters such as square brackets or angle brackets may be used.

The specific names of tuples not only facilitate communication in mathematics and computer science but also help in understanding the structure and properties of these ordered collections. Understanding these names and their origins can provide insight into the nature of sequences and their applications across various fields.

Here are some words for tuple names.

## Names for tuples of specific lengths

|Tuple length,|Name|Alternative names|
| --- | --- | --- |
|0|empty tuple|null tuple / empty sequence / unit nothing zero|
|1|single|tuple/solo|
|2|double|duo|
|3|triple|trio|
|4|quadruple|quad / tetrad / quartet|
|5|quintuple|pentuple|
|6|sextuple|hextuple / hexad / half dozen|
|7|septuple|heptuple|
|8|octuple|octa / octet / octad / octo|
|9|nonuple|nuleip|
|10|decuple|deka / cent|
|11|undecuple|hendecuple / hendecad|
|12|duodecuple|Dozen / dodeca|
|13|tredecuple|Baker's dozen|
|14|quattuordecuple|double septuple|
|15|quindecuple|triple quintuple|
|16|sexdecuple|quadruple quadruple|
|17|septendecuple||
|18|octodecuple|double nonuple|
|19|novemdecuple||
|20|vigintuple|quadruple quintuple|
|21|unvigintuple||
|22|duovigintuple|duolius|
|23|trevigintuple||
|24|quattuorvigintuple||
|25|quinvigintuple||
|26|sexvigintuple||
|27|septenvigintuple||
|28|octovigintuple||
|29|novemvigintuple||
|30|trigintuple||
|31|untrigintuple||
|32|duotrigintuple||
|33|tretrigintuple||
|34|quattuortrigintuple||
|35|quintrigintuple||
|36|sextrigintuple||
|37|septrigintuple||
|38|octotrigintuple||
|39|novemtrigintuple||
|40|quadragintuple||
|41|unoquadragintuple||
|42|duoquadragintuple||
|43|trequadragintuple||
|44|quattorquadragintuple||
|45|quinquadragintuple||
|46|sexquadragintuple||
|47|sepquadragintuple||
|48|octoquadragintuple||
|49|novemquadragintuple||
|50|quinquagintuple||
|51|unoquinquagintuple||
|52|duoquinquagintuple||
|53|trequinquagintuple||
|54|quattorquinquagintuple||
|55|quinquinquagintuple||
|56|sexquinquagintuple||
|57|sepquinquagintuple||
|58|octoquadquagintuple||
|59|novemquinquagintuple||
|60|sexagintuple||
|61|unosexagintuple||
|62|duosexagintuple||
|63|tresexagintuple||
|64|quattorsexagintuple||
|65|quinsexagintuple||
|66|sexsexagintuple||
|67|sepsexagintuple||
|68|octosexagintuple||
|69|novemsexagintuple||
|70|septuagintuple||
|71|unoseptuagintuple||
|72|duoseptuagintuple||
|73|treseptuagintuple||
|74|quattorseptuagintuple||
|75|quinseptuagintuple||
|76|sexseptuagintuple||
|77|sepseptuagintuple||
|78|octoseptuagintuple||
|79|novemseptuagintuple||
|80|octogintuple||
|81|unoctogintuple||
|82|duooctogintuple||
|83|treoctogintuple||
|84|quattoroctogintuple||
|85|quinoctogintuple||
|86|sexoctogintuple||
|87|sepoctogintuple||
|88|octooctogintuple||
|89|novemoctogintuple||
|90|nonagintuple||
|91|unnonagintuple||
|92|duononagintuple||
|93|trenonagintuple||
|94|quattornonagintuple||
|95|quinnonagintuple||
|96|sexnonagintuple||
|97|sepnonagintuple||
|98|octononagintuple||
|99|novemnonagintuple||
|100|centuple||
|200|ducentuple||
|300|trecentuple||
|400|quadringentuple||
|500|quingentuple||
|600|sescentuple||
|700|septingentuple||
|800|octingentuple||
|900|nongentuple||
|1,000|milluple|chiliad|
|10,000|decimilluple|decichilad|
|100,000|centimillupe|centichilad|
|1,000,000|micruple|megad|
|1,000,000,000|nanuple|gigad|
|10^12|picuple|terad|
|10^15|femtuple|petad|
|10^18|attuple|exad|
|10^21|zetuple|zettad|
|10^24|yoctuple|yottad|
|10^27|rontuple|ronnad|
|10^30|quectuple|quettad|
|10^33|milliquectuple|kiloquettad|
|10^36|microquectuple||
|10^39|nanoquectuple||
|10^42|picoquectuple||
|10^45|femtoquectuple||
|10^48|attoquectuple||
|10^51|zeptoquectuple||
|10^54|yoctoquectuple||
|10^57|rontoquectuple||
|10^60|bittuple|Broadigintad|

## Related pages

- Tuple
- Ordered pair
- Relational database
- Functional programming