cyclic

• POS: Adjective
• HYPHEN: cy=clic

CIDE DICTIONARY

cyclic, a. [Cf. F. cycluque, Gr. kykliko`s, fr. ky`klos See Cycle.].

•  Of or pertaining to a cycle or circle; moving in cycles; as, cyclical time.  Coleridge.  [1913 Webster]
•  Having atoms bonded to form a ring structure. Opposite of acyclic.

  "Used most commonly in respect to organic compounds."

  "[Narrower terms: bicyclic; heterocyclic; homocyclic, isocyclic]"  [WordNet 1.5]
•  Recurring in cycles{2}; having a pattern that repeats at approximately equal intervals; periodic. Opposite of noncyclic.

  "[Narrower terms: alternate(prenominal), alternating(prenominal); alternate(prenominal), every other(prenominal), every second(prenominal); alternating(prenominal), oscillating(prenominal); biyearly; circadian exhibiting 24-hour periodicity); circular; daily, diurnal; fortnightly, biweekly; hourly; midweek, midweekly; seasonal; semestral, semestrial; semiannual, biannual, biyearly; semiweekly, biweekly; weekly; annual, yearly; biennial; bimonthly, bimestrial; half-hourly; half-yearly; monthly; tertian, alternate(prenominal); triennial]"  [WordNet 1.5]
•  Marked by repeated cycles{2}.  [WordNet 1.5]

Cyclic chorus, the chorus which performed the songs and dances of the dithyrambic odes at Athens, dancing round the altar of Bacchus in a circle. -- Cyclic poets, certain epic poets who followed Homer, and wrote merely on the Trojan war and its heroes; -- so called because keeping within the circle of a single subject. Also, any series or coterie of poets writing on one subject. Milman.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

cyclic, adj.
1 a recurring in cycles. b belonging to a chronological cycle.
2 Chem. with constituent atoms forming a ring.
3 of a cycle of songs etc.
4 Bot. (of a flower) with its parts arranged in whorls.
5 Math. of a circle or cycle.

Etymology

F cyclique or L cyclicus f. Gk kuklikos (as CYCLE)

THESAURUS

cyclic

alternate, annular, annulate, annulose, articulated, atomatic, atomic, atomiferous, atomistic, beating, catenated, ceaseless, circinate, circling, circular, concatenated, connected, constant, continual, continued, continuing, continuous, coronary, crownlike, cyclical, cycloid, diatomic, dibasic, direct, discoid, disklike, endless, epochal, even, ever-recurring, every other, featureless, frequent, gapless, haunting, heteroatomic, heterocyclic, hexatomic, homocyclic, immediate, incessant, interminable, intermittent, isobaric, isochronal, isocyclic, isoteric, isotopic, joined, jointless, linked, measured, metronomic, monatomic, monotonous, never-ending, nonstop, oscillatory, pentatomic, perennial, periodic, periodical, pulsing, reappearing, reciprocal, recurrent, recurring, repetitive, returning, revenant, rhythmic, ring-shaped, ringlike, rotary, round, round-the-clock, rounded, running, seamless, seasonal, serial, serried, smooth, stable, steady, straight, subatomic, tetratomic, thematic, thick-coming, triatomic, tribasic, twenty-four-hour, ubiquitous, unbroken, unceasing, undifferentiated, undulant, undulatory, unending, uniform, unintermitted, unintermittent, unintermitting, uninterrupted, unrelieved, unremitting, unstopped, wavelike, wheeling