cyclic
cyclic Lexical Profile
cyclic Game Scores & Validity
• adjective
Occurring in cycles; regularly repeated or recurring in a fixed sequence.
"Scientists study the cyclic variations in solar activity that occur roughly every eleven years."
Having a molecular structure containing one or more closed rings of atoms (in chemistry).
"Benzene is a classic example of an aromatic cyclic hydrocarbon with six carbon atoms arranged in a ring."
Involving a polygon whose vertices all lie on a single circle, or an algebraic group generated by a single element (in mathematics).
"The opposite angles of any cyclic quadrilateral always add up to 180 degrees."
Word Nuance & Usage
While 'cyclic' and 'cyclical' are interchangeable in many contexts, 'cyclic' is strongly preferred in scientific and technical fields (such as 'cyclic compounds' in chemistry), whereas 'cyclical' is more common in economics and general usage (such as 'cyclical unemployment').
• Rhymes for cyclic
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the late 18th century from French 'cyclique', via Latin 'cyclicus', from Ancient Greek 'kyklikos' (moving in a circle), derived from 'kyklos' (circle, wheel).