period
UK /ˈpɪə.ɹi.əd/ · US /ˈpɪɚ.i.əd/ noun, adjective, interjection, verb
Forms periods perioding perioded per.
- noun A length of time. “There was a period of confusion following the announcement.”
- noun A length of time in history seen as a single coherent entity; an epoch, era. “Food rationing continued in the post-war period.”
- noun (now chiefly Canada, US, Philippines) The punctuation mark “.” (indicating the ending of a sentence or marking an abbreviation).
- noun (figurative) A decisive end to something; a stop.
- noun 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.
- noun (euphemistic) Female menstruation; an episode of this. “When she is on her period, she prefers not to go swimming.”
- noun The set of symptoms associated with menstruation, even if not accompanied by menstruation; an episode of these symptoms.
- noun A section of an artist's, writer's (etc.) career distinguished by a given quality, preoccupation etc. “This is one of the last paintings Picasso created during his Blue Period.”
- adjective Designating anything from a given historical era.
- adjective Evoking, or appropriate for, a particular historical period, especially through the use of elaborate costumes and scenery. “a period piece”
- adjective Menstrual. “period pains”
- interjection (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!”
- verb (obsolete, intransitive) To come to a period; to conclude.
- verb (obsolete, transitive, rare) To put an end to.
- verb (colloquial) To menstruate; to excrete menstrual blood.
Synonyms
vintage point full stop dot full-point plain point duration interval period of time tide time time interval time period timespan space span stound that's that end of discussion geological period menstruation menses menstruum catamenia flow stop full point
Antonyms
Etymology
From Middle English periode, from Middle French periode, from Medieval Latin periodus, from Ancient Greek περίοδος (períodos, “circuit, orbit, a recurring interval of time, path around”), from περι- (peri-, “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”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun A portion of time as limited and determined by some recurring phenomenon, as by the completion of a revolution of one of the heavenly bodies; a division of time, as a series of years, months, or days, in which something is completed, and ready to recommence and go on in the same order; as, the period of the sun, or the earth, or a comet.
- noun Hence: A stated and recurring interval of time; more generally, an interval of time specified or left indefinite; a certain series of years, months, days, or the like; a time; a cycle; an age; an epoch; as, the period of the Roman republic.
- verb To put an end to. [Obs.] Shak.
- verb To come to a period; to conclude. [Obs.] "You may period upon this, that," etc. Felthman.
Etymology [L. periodus, Gr. période.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “period”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details