The term "tera" is a prefix in the metric system that denotes a factor of one trillion, or 10^12. It is commonly used in various fields, such as computing and data storage, to describe large quantities. For example, a terabyte (TB) is equal to 1,024 gigabytes (GB) and is often used to measure the capacity of hard drives and data centers. In addition to computing, "tera" is also used in scientific contexts, such as in terawatt for measuring power or terahertz for frequency. The prefix helps simplify communication about large numbers, making it easier to understand and compare vast quantities in technology and science.