period

period
pe·ri·od (pîr’ē-əd)
n.
1. An interval of time characterized by the occurrence of a certain condition, event, or phenomenon: »

a period of economic prosperity.

2. An interval of time characterized by the prevalence of a specified culture, ideology, or technology: »

artifacts of the pre-Columbian period.

3. An interval regarded as a distinct evolutionary or developmental phase: »

Picasso's early career is divided into his blue period and rose period.

4. Geology A unit of time, longer than an epoch and shorter than an era.
5. Any of various arbitrary units of time, especially: a) Any of the divisions of the academic day. b) Sports & Games A division of the playing time of a game.
6. Physics & Astronomy The time interval between two successive occurrences of a recurrent event or phases of an event; a cycle: »

the period of a satellite's orbit.

7. See MENSTRUAL PERIOD(Cf. ↑menstrual period).
8. A point or portion of time at which something is ended; a completion or conclusion.
9. A punctuation mark ( . ) indicating a full stop, placed at the end of declarative sentences and other statements thought to be complete, and after many abbreviations.
10. The full pause at the end of a spoken sentence.
11. A sentence of several carefully balanced clauses in formal writing.
12. a) A metrical unit of quantitative verse consisting of two or more cola. b) An analogous unit or division of classical Greek or Latin prose.
13. Music A group of two or more phrases within a composition, often made up of 8 or 16 measures and terminating with a cadence.
14. Mathematics a) The least interval in the range of the independent variable of a periodic function of a real variable in which all possible values of the dependent variable are assumed. b) A group of digits separated by commas in a written number. c) The number of digits that repeat in a repeating decimal. For example, 1/7 = 0.142857142857 ... has a six-digit period.
15. Chemistry A sequence of elements arranged in order of increasing atomic number and forming one of the horizontal rows in the periodic table.
adj. Of, belonging to, or representing a certain historical age or time: »

a period piece; period furniture.

interj. Used to emphasize finality, as when expressing a decision or an opinion: »

You're not going to the movies tonight, period!

[Middle English periode, from Old French, from Medieval Latin periodus, from Latin perihodos, rhetorical period, from Greek periodos, circuit : peri-, peri- + hodos, way.]
Word History: Many may have wondered why the word period has the sense "punctuation mark ( . )" as well as several senses having to do with time. The answer to this question lies in one of the senses of the Greek word periodos from which our word is descended. Periodos, made up of peri-, "around," and hodos, "way," in addition to meaning such things as "going around, way around, going around in a circle, circuit," and with regard to time, "cycle or period of time," referred in rhetoric to "a group of words organically related in grammar and sense." The Greek word was adopted into Latin as perihodos, which in the Medieval Latin period acquired a new sense related to its use in rhetoric, "a punctuation mark used at the end of a rhetorical period." This sense is not recorded in English until the late 1500s, but the word had already entered Middle English in the 1400s as a borrowing from Old French in the sense "a cycle of recurrence of a disease."

Word Histories. 2014.

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  • period — pe‧ri‧od [ˈpɪəriəd ǁ ˈpɪr ] noun [countable] a particular length of time: • She has been taken on for a 6 month trial period. acˈcounting ˌperiod ACCOUNTING a period of time to which a particular payment is related for accounting or tax purposes …   Financial and business terms

  • Period — Pe ri*od, n. [L. periodus, Gr. ? a going round, a way round, a circumference, a period of time; ? round, about + ? a way: cf. F. p[ e]riode.] 1. A portion of time as limited and determined by some recurring phenomenon, as by the completion of a… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • period — [pir′ē əd] n. [ME paryode < MFr periode < L periodus < Gr periodos, a going around, cycle < peri , around + hodos, way < IE base * sed , to go > Sans ā sad , go toward] 1. the interval between recurrent astronomical events, as… …   English World dictionary

  • Period — or periodic may refer to:Language and literature* Full stop, a punctuation mark indicating the end of a sentence or phrase * Periodic sentence, a sentence that is not grammatically complete until its end * The final book in Dennis Cooper s George …   Wikipedia

  • Period — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda «Period» Sencillo de Haruka Ayase Publicación 24 de marzo de 2006 Formato Maxi single …   Wikipedia Español

  • period — period, epoch, era, age, aeon all denote a portion or division of time; epoch and era can also denote an event regarded as the beginning of a portion or division of time. Period is the generic term, designating an extent of time of any length for …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • period — PERIÓD s.n. v. perioadă. Trimis de oprocopiuc, 13.03.2004. Sursa: DEX 98  PERIÓD s. v. menstruaţie. Trimis de siveco, 13.09.2007. Sursa: Sinonime  periód (fiziol.) s. n. (sil. ri od) Trimis de siveco, 10 …   Dicționar Român

  • period — perìod m DEFINICIJA 1. odsječak vremena [period srednjega vijeka]; doba, razdoblje 2. faza u razvoju, razdoblje koje je po čemu karakteristično [period nasilja] 3. fiz. (simbol T) vrijeme potrebno nekom oscilirajućem sustavu da izvrši jedan puni… …   Hrvatski jezični portal

  • Period — Pe ri*od, v. i. To come to a period; to conclude. [Obs.] You may period upon this, that, etc. Felthman. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • period — I noun age, bout, continuance, course, diuturnity, duration, eon, epoch, era, hitch, interval, juncture, length of time, limited time, point, season, shift, span, spell, stage, stint, stretch, tenure, term, time, time interval, time stretch, tour …   Law dictionary

  • period — ► NOUN 1) a length or portion of time. 2) a distinct portion of time with particular characteristics. 3) a major division of geological time, forming part of an era. 4) a lesson in a school. 5) (also menstrual period) a monthly flow of blood and… …   English terms dictionary

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