Low temperature prismatic glides of tellurium are strongly thermally activated. A meaningful macroelastic‐limit criterion has been found to be most convenient in this situation where extensive parabolic stage occurs to the passage from microplasticity to macroplasticity. This definition is discussed from the point of view of the dislocation substructure and of the experimental results. For a‐glide, the stability of a‐edge dislocations accounts for the strong temperature variation of elastic‐limit, small activation volumes, and a maximum activation energy U0 = (0.50 ± 0.05) eV which can be attributed to the double‐kink nucleation energy. For c‐glide, the stability of c‐screw dislocations leads to a strong lattice friction up to 150°K. Above 150°K, the lattice friction is annihilated; due to an extensive glide polygonisation, c‐edge dislocations form tilt walls, and c‐ and a‐screw dislocations form twist walls.