period
English
Alternative forms
- per. (abbreviation)
Etymology
From Middle English periode, from Middle French periode, from Medieval Latin periodus, from Ancient Greek περίοδος (períodos, “circuit, an interval of time, path around”), from περί- (perí-, “around”) + ὁδός (hodós, “way”). Displaced native Middle English tide (“interval, period, season”), from Old English tīd (“time, period, season”), as well as Middle English elde (“age, period”), from Old English ieldu (“age, period of time”).
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈpɪə.ɹi.əd/, /ˈpɪə.ɹɪ.əd/
- (US) IPA(key): /ˈpɪɚ.i.əd/, /ˈpɪɹ.i.əd/
Audio (US) (file)
Noun
period (plural periods)
- A length of time. [from 17th c.]
- There was a period of confusion following the announcement.
- You'll be on probation for a six-month period.
- 2011 December 14, Steven Morris, “Devon woman jailed for 168 days for killing kitten in microwave”, in Guardian:
- Philip Miles, defending, said: "This was a single instance, there was no allegation of continuing behaviour over a long period of time."
- A period of time in history seen as a single coherent entity; an epoch, era. [from 16th c.]
- Food rationing continued in the post-war period.
- 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter VII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, OCLC 4293071:
- With some of it on the south and more of it on the north of the great main thoroughfare that connects Aldgate and the East India Docks, St. Bede's at this period of its history was perhaps the poorest and most miserable parish in the East End of London.
- (now chiefly Canada, US, Philippines) The punctuation mark “.” (indicating the ending of a sentence or marking an abbreviation).
- 2002, Zadie Smith, The Autograph Man, Penguin Books (2003), page 299:
- ‘You know, a period? The black spot at the end of a sentence — what do you call them over there?’
-
- (figurative) A decisive end to something; a stop.
- 1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, OCLC 1167497017:
- My sufferings, physical and mental, are more than I can bear, and when such small arrangements as I have to make for your future well-being are completed it is my intention to put a period to them.
-
- The length of time during which the same characteristics of a periodic phenomenon recur, such as the repetition of a wave or the rotation of a planet. [from 17th c.]
- (euphemistic) Female menstruation; an episode of this. [from 18th c.]
- When she is on her period, she prefers not to go swimming.
- A section of an artist's, writer's (etc.) career distinguished by a given quality, preoccupation etc. [from 19th c.]
- This is one of the last paintings Picasso created during his Blue Period.
- Each of the divisions into which a school day is split, allocated to a given subject or activity. [from 19th c.]
- I have math class in second period.
- (sports, chiefly ice hockey) Each of the intervals, typically three, of which a game is divided. [from 19th c.]
- Gretzky scored in the last minute of the second period.
- (sports, chiefly ice hockey) One or more additional intervals to decide a tied game, an overtime period.
- They won in the first overtime period.
- (obsolete, medicine) The length of time for a disease to run its course. [15th–19th c.]
- An end or conclusion; the final point of a process etc. [from 16th c.]
- c. 1597, William Shakespeare, “The Merry VViues of VVindsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act III, scene iii], page 58, column 1:
- Why now let me die, for I haue liu'd long enough : This is the period of my ambition : O this bleſſed houre.
- 1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 3, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], OCLC 946730821, page 203:
- All comes to one period, whether man make an end of himſelfe, or whether he endure-it […].
- a. 1667, Jeremy Taylor, “Advent Sunday Dooms-Day Book: Or, Christ’s Advent to Judgement”, in Ἐνιαυτος: A Course of Sermons for All the Sundays Of the Year, London: R. Norton, published 1673, page 8:
- […] and yet this is but the ἀρχή ὠδίνων, the Beginning of those evils which shall never End till eternity hath a period […]
- 1667, John Milton, “Book X”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], OCLC 228722708; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, OCLC 230729554, lines 1537–1539:
- So ſpake th’ Archangel Michael, then paus’d, / As at the Worlds great period ; and our Sire / Replete with joy and wonder thus repli’d.
-
- (rhetoric) A complete sentence, especially one expressing a single thought or making a balanced, rhythmic whole. [from 16th c.]
- 1641, Ben Jonson, Timber
- Periods are beautiful when they are not too long.
- 1644, John Milton, Areopagitica; a Speech of Mr. John Milton for the Liberty of Unlicenc’d Printing, to the Parlament of England, London: [s.n.], OCLC 879551664:
- that such iron moulds as these shall have autority to knaw out the choicest periods of exquisitest books, and to commit such a treacherous fraud against the orphan remainders of worthiest men after death, the more sorrow will belong to that haples race of men, whose misfortune it is to have understanding.
- 1791 (date written), Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: With Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects, 1st American edition, Boston, Mass.: […] Peter Edes for Thomas and Andrews, […], published 1792, OCLC 5625662194:
- In declamatory periods Dr Fordyce spins out Rousseau's eloquence […]
- 1852 March – 1853 September, Charles Dickens, chapter 1, in Bleak House, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1853, OCLC 999756093:
- A very superior gentleman, Mr. Kenge. Truly eloquent indeed. Some of his periods quite majestic!
- 1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019:
- He writhed for twenty minutes under the flowery and eulogistic periods of the president, and rose himself in the state of confused indignation which the Briton feels when he is publicly approved.
- 1641, Ben Jonson, Timber
- (obsolete) A specific moment during a given process; a point, a stage. [17th–19th c.]
- 1720, Alexander Pope, translating Homer, Iliad, Book IV (note 125):
- The Death of Patroclus was the most eminent Period; and consequently the most proper Time for such Games.
- 1720, Alexander Pope, translating Homer, Iliad, Book IV (note 125):
- (chemistry) A row in the periodic table of the elements. [from 19th c.]
- (geology) A geochronologic unit of millions to tens of millions of years; a subdivision of an era, and subdivided into epochs.
- These fossils are from the Jurassic period.
- (genetics) A Drosophila gene, the gene product of which is involved in regulation of the circadian rhythm.
- 1988 April 1, “Antibodies to the period gene product of drosophila reveal diverse tissue distribution and rhythmic changes in the visual system”, in Neuron, volume 1, number 2, page 141:
- Polyclonal antibodies were prepared against the period gene product, which influences biological rhythms in D. melanogaster, by using small synthetic peptides from the per sequence as immunogens.
- 2009 November 20, “Gene Dmel\\per”, in FlyBase (Gene Report (database record)), The FlyBase Consortium, retrieved 7 December:
- Symbol: Dmel\\per / Species: D. melanogaster / Name: period
-
- (music) Two phrases (an antecedent and a consequent phrase).
- (mathematics) The length of an interval over which a periodic function, periodic sequence or repeating decimal repeats; often the least such length.
- (archaic) End point, conclusion.
- 1590, Robert Greene, Greenes Mourning Garment, London: Thomas Newman, “The Shepheards Tale,” p. 17,
- As thus all gazed on hir, so she glaunced hir lookes on all, surueying them as curiously, as they noted hir exactly, but at last she set downe her period on the face of Alexis […]
- 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act III, scene i]:
- And if my death might make this island happy,
And prove the period of their tyranny,
I would expend it with all willingness:
- 1629, John Beaumont, “A Description of Love” in Bosworth-field with a Taste of the Variety of Other Poems, London: Henry Seile, p. 100,
- When Loue thus in his Center ends,
- Desire and Hope, his inward friends
- Are shaken off: while Doubt and Griefe,
- The weakest giuers of reliefe,
- Stand in his councell as the chiefe:
- And now he to his period brought,
- From Loue becomes some other thought.
- 1651, William Cartwright, The Ordinary, London: Humphrey Moseley, Act III, Scene 5, p. 51,
- Set up an hour-glasse; hee’l go on untill
- The last sand make his Period.
- 1590, Robert Greene, Greenes Mourning Garment, London: Thomas Newman, “The Shepheards Tale,” p. 17,
Synonyms
- (punctuation mark “.”): point; full stop (UK, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa); dot (computing, abbreviations); full-point, plain point (obsolete)
- (menstrual period): see also Thesaurus:menstruation.
- See also Thesaurus:period
Antonyms
- (length of time of recurrence of a periodic phenomenon): frequency
Hyponyms
- pseudoperiod
Derived terms
- half-period
- long-period
- medium-period
- periodization
- period poverty
- pseudoperiodic
- short-period
- Sothic period
Related terms
- periodic
Translations
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
|
Adjective
period (not comparable)
- Designating anything from a given historical era. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
- a period car
- a period TV commercial
- Evoking, or appropriate for, a particular historical period, especially through the use of elaborate costumes and scenery.
- 2004, Mark Singer, Somewhere in America, Houghton Mifflin, page 70:
- As the guests arrived — there were about a hundred, a majority in period attire — I began to feel out of place in my beige summer suit, white shirt, and red necktie. Then I got over it. I certainly didn't suffer from Confederate-uniform envy.
- 2004, Mark Singer, Somewhere in America, Houghton Mifflin, page 70:
Interjection
period
- (chiefly Canada, US) That's final; that's the end of the matter (analogous to a period ending a sentence); end of story.
- I know you don't want to go to the dentist, but your teeth need to be checked, period!
Synonyms
- (that's final): full stop; that's that; end of discussion
Translations
|
See also
- Appendix:Unsupported titles
Punctuation
- apostrophe ( ' ) ( ’ )
- curly brackets or braces (US) ( { } )
- square brackets or brackets (US) ( [ ] )
- colon ( : )
- comma ( , )
- dashes ( ‒ ) ( – ) ( — ) ( ― )
- ellipsis ( … )
- exclamation mark ( ! )
- fraction slash ( ⁄ )
- guillemets ( « » ) ( ‹ › )
- hyphen ( - ) ( ‐ )
- interpunct ( · )
- interrobang (rare) ( ‽ )
- brackets or parentheses (US, Canada) ( ( ) )
- full stop or period (US, Canada) ( . )
- question mark ( ? )
- quotation marks (formal) ( ‘ ’ ‚ ) ( “ ” „ )
- quotation marks (informal, computing) ( " ) ( ' )
- semicolon ( ; )
- slash or stroke (UK) ( / )
- space ( )
Further reading
Period on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
Period in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)
- period in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911
- period at OneLook Dictionary Search
Verb
period (third-person singular simple present periods, present participle perioding, simple past and past participle perioded)
- (obsolete, intransitive) To come to a period; to conclude.
- 1623, Owen Feltham, Resolves: Divine, Moral, Political
- For you may period upon this, that where there is the most pity for others, there is the greatest misery in the party pitied.
- 1623, Owen Feltham, Resolves: Divine, Moral, Political
- (obsolete, transitive, rare) To put an end to.
Anagrams
- -poride, dopier, dorpie
Polish
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin periodus, Ancient Greek περίοδος (períodos).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈpɛ.rjɔt/
Audio (file) - Rhymes: -ɛrjɔt
- Syllabification: pe‧riod
Noun
period m inan
- (literary) period (a length of time)
- Synonym: okres
- (literary) period (a period of time in history seen as a single coherent entity)
- Synonym: okres
- (literary) period (the length of time during which the same characteristics of a periodic phenomenon recur)
- Synonym: okres
- (physiology) period (female menstruation)
- Synonyms: ciota, ciotka, menstruacja, miesiączka, okres
- (rhetoric) period (full sentence)
- Synonym: okres
Declension
singular | plural | |
---|---|---|
nominative | period | periody |
genitive | periodu | periodów |
dative | periodowi | periodom |
accusative | period | periody |
instrumental | periodem | periodami |
locative | periodzie | periodach |
vocative | periodzie | periody |
Derived terms
- aperiodyczny
- nieperiodyczny
- periodyczny
- periodyzacyjny
- periodycznie
- periodyczność
- periodyk
- periodyzacja
- periodyzować
- speriodyzować
Further reading
- period in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
- period in Polish dictionaries at PWN
Romanian
Noun
period n (plural perioade)
- Alternative form of perioadă
Declension
singular | plural | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
indefinite articulation | definite articulation | indefinite articulation | definite articulation | |
nominative/accusative | (un) period | periodul | (niște) perioade | perioadele |
genitive/dative | (unui) period | periodului | (unor) perioade | perioadelor |
vocative | periodule | perioadelor |
Serbo-Croatian
Etymology
From Latin periodus, from Ancient Greek περίοδος (períodos).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /perǐod/
- Hyphenation: pe‧ri‧od
Noun
perìod m (Cyrillic spelling перѝод)
- period (of time)
Declension
singular | plural | |
---|---|---|
nominative | period | periodi |
genitive | perioda | perioda |
dative | periodu | periodima |
accusative | period | periode |
vocative | periode | periodi |
locative | periodu | periodima |
instrumental | periodom | periodima |
References
- “period” in Hrvatski jezični portal
Swedish
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /pɛrːjuːd/
Audio (file) - Rhymes: -uːd
Noun
period c
- a period, a limited amount of time
- (ice hockey, floorball) period
Declension
Declension of period | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | |||
Indefinite | Definite | Indefinite | Definite | |
Nominative | period | perioden | perioder | perioderna |
Genitive | periods | periodens | perioders | periodernas |
Related terms
- brunstperiod
- periodare
- periodicitet
- periodisering
- periodisk
- periodkort
- periodvis