Tesserae

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Small, usually square or rectangular pieces of material used in mosaics or decorative art
2. individual components that form a larger design or picture
3. fragments that contribute to a whole in artistic or architectural applications

Etymology: "Tesserae" is the plural of "tessera," and the singular's original sense was a small object used in gaming rather than a piece of mosaic. The Latin "tessera" meant a cube, specifically a die with numbers on all six sides, and it came from the Greek "téssares," meaning "four." The link lies in the cube's shape: a die has six faces, but the Greek and Roman idea of a regular solid was tied to counting in fours and squares, and the word carried that numerical root into Latin. Over time the word moved from the dice box to the workshop. Roman craftsmen used small cut cubes of stone, glass, or ceramic, also called tesserae, to build the floors and walls of mosaics. Each tile was a single unit that only made sense as part of the whole picture, which is why the word now describes any individual component that contributes to a larger design.