periodic

• POS: Adjective
• HYPHEN: per=i=od=ic

CIDE DICTIONARY

periodic, a. [Pref. per- + iodic.].

 Pertaining to, derived from, or designating, the highest oxygen acid (HIO1913 Webster]

periodic, a. [L. periodicus, Gr. : cf. F. périodique.].

•  Of or pertaining to a period or periods, or to division by periods.  [1913 Webster]

  "The periodicaltimes of all the satellites."  [1913 Webster]
•  Performed in a period, or regular revolution; proceeding in a series of successive circuits; as, the periodical motion of the planets round the sun.  [1913 Webster]
•  Happening, by revolution, at a stated time; returning regularly, after a certain period of time; acting, happening, or appearing, at fixed intervals; recurring; as, periodical epidemics.  [1913 Webster]

  "The periodic return of a plant's flowering."  [1913 Webster]

  "To influence opinion through the periodical press."  [1913 Webster]
•  Of or pertaining to a period; constituting a complete sentence.  [1913 Webster]

  " A similar relation had been enunciated in a crude way by Newlands; but the law in its effective form was developed and elaborated by Mendelejeff, whence it is sometimes called Mendelejeff's law. Important extensions of it were also made by L. Meyer. By this means Mendelejeff predicted with remarkable accuracy the hypothetical elements ekaboron, ekaluminium, and ekasilicon, afterwards discovered and named respectively scandium, gallium, and germanium."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

periodic, adj.
1 appearing or occurring at regular intervals.
2 of or concerning the period of a celestial body (periodic motion).
3 (of diction etc.) expressed in periods (see PERIOD n. 7a).

Idiom

periodic decimal Math. a set of figures repeated in a recurring decimal. periodic function Math. a function returning to the same value at regular intervals. periodic table an arrangement of elements in order of increasing atomic number and in which elements of similar chemical properties appear at regular intervals.

Derivative

periodicity n.

Etymology

F p{eacute}riodique or L periodicus f. Gk periodikos (as PERIOD)

THESAURUS

periodic

alternate, articulated, beating, catenated, ceaseless, circling, concatenated, connected, constant, continual, continued, continuing, continuous, cyclic, cyclical, direct, editorial, endless, episodic, epochal, even, ever-recurring, every other, featureless, fluctuant, fluctuating, fluctuational, frequent, gapless, harmonic, haunting, immediate, incessant, interminable, intermittent, isochronal, isochronous, iterative, joined, jointless, journalese, journalistic, libratory, linked, magazinish, magaziny, measured, metronomic, monotonous, never-ending, newspaperish, newspapery, nonstop, nutational, occasional, on-again-off-again, oscillating, oscillatory, pendular, pendulous, perennial, periodical, pulsing, reappearing, reciprocal, recurrent, recurring, regular, repeated, repetitive, reportorial, resonant, returning, revenant, rhythmic, rotary, round-the-clock, running, seamless, seasonal, serial, serried, smooth, sporadic, stable, steady, straight, thematic, thick-coming, twenty-four-hour, ubiquitous, unbroken, unceasing, undifferentiated, undulant, undulatory, unending, uniform, unintermitted, unintermittent, unintermitting, uninterrupted, unrelieved, unremitting, unstopped, vacillating, vacillatory, vibratile, vibrating, vibratory, wavelike, wavering, wheeling

ROGET THESAURUS

periodic

Periodicity

N regularity of recurrence, periodicity, intermittence, beat, oscillation, pulse, pulsation, rhythm, alternation, alternateness, alternativeness, alternity, bout, round, revolution, rotation, turn, say, anniversary, jubilee, centenary, catamenia, courses, menses, menstrual flux, rota, cycle, period, stated time, routine, days of the week, Sunday, Monday, months of the year, January, feast, fast, Christmas, Easter, New Year's day, Allhallows, Allhallowmas, All Saints' Day, All Souls', All Souls' Day, Ash Wednesday, bicentennial, birthday, bissextile, Candlemas, Dewali, groundhog day, Halloween, Hallowmas, Lady day, leap year, Midsummer day, Muharram, woodchuck day, St. Swithin's day, natal day, yearbook, yuletide, punctuality, regularity, steadiness, periodic, periodical, serial, recurrent, cyclical, rhythmical, recurring, intermittent, remittent, alternate, every other, hourly, diurnal, daily, quotidian, tertian, weekly, hebdomadal, hebdomadary, biweekly, fortnightly, bimonthly, catamenial, monthly, menstrual, yearly, annual, biennial, triennial, centennial, secular, paschal, lenten, regular, steady, punctual, regular as clockwork, periodically, at regular intervals, at stated times, at fixed established, at established periods, punctually, de die in diem, from day to day, day by day, by turns, in turn, in rotation, alternately, every other day, off and on, ride and tie, round and round.