period
period Lexical Profile
period Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A length, span, or portion of time, often characterized by particular conditions, events, or historical developments.
"The country experienced a prolonged period of economic growth following the industrial reforms."
North American A punctuation mark (.) placed at the end of a declarative sentence or after an abbreviation; a full stop.
"Please remember to put a period at the end of every complete sentence in your essay."
An occurrence of menstruation, or the interval of days during which menstrual flow takes place.
"She tracked her monthly cycle using a calendar app to predict when her next period would begin."
One of the fixed, equal divisions of time into which a school day or a sports match (especially ice hockey) is divided.
"We have chemistry during third period, right before the lunch break."
In physics, mathematics, and chemistry, the time required to complete one full cycle of a repeating oscillation or wave, or a horizontal row of elements in the periodic table.
"Elements in the same period of the periodic table have the same number of atomic electron shells."
• adjective
Belonging to, characteristic of, or authentically representing a specific historical era or past age, especially in reference to architecture, furniture, clothing, or drama.
"The actors wore elaborate period costumes for the theatrical production set in Victorian London."
• interjection
North American Used at the end of a declarative statement to indicate that the speaker considers the matter final, indisputable, and not open to further discussion.
"You are not borrowing the car tonight, period."
Word Nuance & Usage
In American and Canadian English, 'period' is the standard term for the punctuation mark '.' at the end of a declarative sentence, whereas in British and Commonwealth English it is typically called a 'full stop'.
• Rhymes for period
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the late 14th century from Old French 'periode' and directly from Latin 'periodus', which derives from Ancient Greek 'periodos' meaning 'a cycle, circuit, or going around', formed from 'peri-' (around) and 'hodos' (way or path).