period

[peer-ee-uh d] /ˈpɪər i əd/
noun
1.
a rather large interval of time that is meaningful in the life of a person, in history, etc., because of its particular characteristics:
a period of illness; a period of great profitability for a company; a period of social unrest in Germany.
2.
any specified division or portion of time:
poetry of the period from 1603 to 1660.
3.
a round of time or series of years by which time is measured.
4.
a round of time marked by the recurrence of some phenomenon or occupied by some recurring process or action.
5.
the point of completion of a round of time or of the time during which something lasts or happens.
6.
Education. a specific length of time during school hours that a student spends in a classroom, laboratory, etc., or has free.
7.
any of the parts of equal length into which a game is divided.
8.
the time during which something runs its course.
9.
the present time.
10.
the point or character (.) used to mark the end of a declarative sentence, indicate an abbreviation, etc.; full stop.
11.
a full pause, as is made at the end of a complete sentence; full stop.
12.
a sentence, especially a well-balanced, impressive sentence:
the stately periods of Churchill.
13.
a periodic sentence.
14.
an occurrence of menstruation.
15.
a time of the month during which menstruation occurs.
16.
Geology. the basic unit of geologic time, during which a standard rock system is formed: comprising two or more epochs and included with other periods in an era.
17.
Physics. the duration of one complete cycle of a wave or oscillation; the reciprocal of the frequency.
18.
Music. a division of a composition, usually a passage of eight or sixteen measures, complete or satisfactory in itself, commonly consisting of two or more contrasted or complementary phrases ending with a conclusive cadence; sentence (def 3).
19.
Astronomy.
  1. Also called period of rotation. the time in which a body rotates once on its axis.
  2. Also called period of revolution. the time in which a planet or satellite revolves once about its primary.
20.
Mathematics, See under periodic (def 5).
21.
Classical Prosody. a group of two or more cola.
adjective
22.
noting, pertaining to, evocative of, imitating, or representing a historical period or the styles current during a specific period of history:
period costumes; a period play.
interjection
23.
(used by a speaker or writer to indicate that a decision is irrevocable or that a point is no longer discussable):
I forbid you to go, period.
Origin
1375-1425; late Middle English periode (< Middle French) < Medieval Latin periodus, Latin < Greek períodos circuit, period of time, period in rhetoric, literally, way around. See peri-, -ode2
Related forms
subperiod, noun
Can be confused
interval, period.
Synonyms
1. See age. 2. term.

periodic1

[peer-ee-od-ik] /ˌpɪər iˈɒd ɪk/
adjective
1.
recurring at intervals of time:
periodic revivals of an interest in handicrafts.
2.
occurring or appearing at regular intervals:
periodic visits of a mail steamer to an island.
3.
repeated at irregular intervals; intermittent:
periodic outbreaks of the disease.
4.
Physics. recurring at equal intervals of time.
5.
Mathematics. (of a function) having a graph that repeats after a fixed interval (period) of the independent variable.
6.
Astronomy.
  1. characterized by a series of successive circuits or revolutions, as the motion of a planet or satellite.
  2. of or pertaining to a period, as of the revolution of a heavenly body.
7.
pertaining to or characterized by rhetorical periods, or periodic sentences.
Origin
1635-45; < Latin periodicus < Greek periodikós. See period, -ic
Related forms
periodically, adverb
quasi-periodically, adverb
Examples from the web for period
  • Yes, but only for a short period.
  • As waves decrease in wavelength or increase in wave period, they become steeper.
  • Our metro stop brought us to the city square, ringed by buildings of various ages, many of which date to the colonial period.
  • New walnut veneers restore period charm to the original kitchen cabinets.
  • Each room of the house represents a decade from that period and is filled with furniture and artifacts of the period.
  • Keep them well watered from planting through bloom period.
  • The footprints and tools constitute evidence of modern human activity during a period that has a poor fossil record.
  • This is the shortest period of sleep found to affect mental functioning.
  • They estimate that he probably covered about 1700 miles over a four-month period.
  • There's something dreary about pointing out the historical inaccuracies of a period drama.
British Dictionary definitions for period

period

/ˈpɪərɪəd/
noun
1.
a portion of time of indefinable length: he spent a period away from home
2.
  1. a portion of time specified in some way: the Arthurian period, Picasso's blue period
  2. (as modifier): period costume
3.
a nontechnical name for an occurrence of menstruation
4.
(geology) a unit of geological time during which a system of rocks is formed: the Jurassic period
5.
a division of time, esp of the academic day
6.
(physics, maths)
  1. the time taken to complete one cycle of a regularly recurring phenomenon; the reciprocal of frequency T
  2. an interval in which the values of a periodic function follow a certain pattern that is duplicated over successive intervals: sin x = sin (x + 2π), where 2π is the period
7.
(astronomy)
  1. the time required by a body to make one complete rotation on its axis
  2. the time interval between two successive maxima or minima of light variation of a variable star
8.
(chem) one of the horizontal rows of elements in the periodic table. Each period starts with an alkali metal and ends with a rare gas Compare group (sense 11)
9.
Also called full stop. the punctuation mark (.) used at the end of a sentence that is not a question or exclamation, after abbreviations, etc
10.
a complete sentence, esp a complex one with several clauses
11.
(music) Also called sentence. a passage or division of a piece of music, usually consisting of two or more contrasting or complementary musical phrases and ending on a cadence
12.
(in classical prosody) a unit consisting of two or more cola
13.
(rare) a completion or end
Word Origin
C14 peryod, from Latin periodus, from Greek periodos circuit, from peri- + hodos way

periodic

/ˌpɪərɪˈɒdɪk/
adjective
1.
happening or recurring at intervals; intermittent
2.
of, relating to, or resembling a period
3.
having or occurring in repeated periods or cycles
Derived Forms
periodically, adverb
periodicity (ˌpɪərɪəˈdɪsɪtɪ) noun
Word Origin and History for period
n.

early 15c., "course or extent of time," from Middle French periode (14c.) and directly from Medieval Latin periodus "recurring portion, cycle," from Latin periodus "a complete sentence," also "cycle of the Greek games," from Greek periodos "cycle, circuit, period of time," literally "a going around," from peri- "around" (see peri-) + hodos "a going, way, journey" (see cede).

Sense of "repeated cycle of events" led to that of "interval of time." Meaning "dot marking end of a sentence" first recorded c.1600, from similar use in Medieval Latin (in late 16c. English it meant "full pause at the end of a sentence"). Sense of "menstruation" dates from 1822. Educational sense of "portion of time set apart for a lesson" is from 1876. Sporting sense attested from 1898. As an adjective from 1905; period piece attested from 1911.

periodic

adj.

1640s, from French périodique (14c.), from Latin periodicus, from periodus (see period).

Periodic table in chemistry (1889) is from notion of the arrangement, in which similar properties recur at intervals in elements in the same area as you read down the rows of the table. This sense of the word is attested from 1872 (periodic law).

period in Medicine

period pe·ri·od (pĭr'ē-əd)
n.

  1. An interval of time characterized by the occurrence of a certain condition, event, or phenomenon.

  2. One of the stages of a disease.

  3. A menstrual period.

  4. A sequence of elements arranged in order of increasing atomic number.

periodic pe·ri·od·ic (pĭr'ē-ŏd'ĭk)
adj.

  1. Having or marked by repeated cycles.

  2. Recurring at regular intervals.

period in Science
period
(pĭr'ē-əd)

  1. A division of geologic time that is longer than an epoch and shorter than an era.

  2. The duration of one cycle of a regularly recurring action or event. See also cycle, frequency.

  3. An occurrence of menstruation.

  4. In the Periodic Table, any of the seven horizontal rows that contain elements arranged in order of increasing atomic number. All the elements in a particular period have the same number of electron shells in their atoms, equal to the number of the period. Thus, atoms of nickel, copper, and zinc, in period four, each have four electron shells. See Periodic Table.


period in Culture

period definition


A punctuation mark (.) that ends a declarative sentence. A period is also used in abbreviations such as Mr. and Dr.

Slang definitions & phrases for period

period

interjection

End of story. That is final: Don't ask me again. Period