pe|ri|od

pe|ri|od «PIHR ee uhd», noun, adjective, interjection.

–n.

1. a portion of time having certain features or conditions: »

They visited us for a short period.

SYNONYM(S): term, interval.

2. a portion of time marked off by events that happen again and again; time after which the same things begin to happen again: »

A month, from new moon to new moon, is a period. The seventh satellite revolves in an eccentric orbit with a period of some 200 days (Scientific American).

3. a certain series of years: »

the period of the Civil War.

4. a portion of a game during which there is actual play: »

The game was won in the third period.

5. one of the portions of time into which a school day is divided.

6. the time needed for a disease to run its course.

7. an end; termination; final stage: »

When some well-contested and decisive victory had put a period to the war (Hawthorne).

8. the dot marking the end of most sentences or showing an abbreviation. Examples: Mr. or Dec. or U.S.

9. the pause at the end of a sentence.

10. a complete sentence: »

The orator spoke in stately periods.

11. = periodic sentence. (Cf. ↑periodic sentence)

12. one of the subdivisions of a geological era. A period is divided into epochs.

13. the time of menstruating; menstruation.

14. Physics. the interval of time between the recurrence of like phases in a vibration or other periodic motion or phenomenon.

15. Chemistry. a horizontal row of elements having consecutive atomic numbers in the periodic table.

16. Mathematics. a) a digit or a group of digits set off by commas. Example: In 6,527,308 there are three periods, 6 being the millions period and 527 the thousands period. b) the smallest interval of the independent variable required for a function to begin to repeat itself.

17. a musical passage, usually a group of eight or sixteen measures divided into two or more complementary or contrasting phrases ending with a cadence.

18. Obsolete. a goal: »

This is the period of my ambition (Shakespeare).

19. Greek Prosody. a group of two or more cola (sections of verse).

–adj.

characteristic of a certain period of time, especially an earlier period: »

period furniture.

–interj.

Informal. that's it! that's final! »

He said that the bank did not like to lend money for so short a time, and I said the bank didn't like to lend money, period (Maclean's).

╂[< Latin periodus < Greek períodos cycle, circuit; (literally) a going around < peri- around + hodós a going, a way]

Usage period. Whether it logically belongs there or not, a period is generally placed inside the final quotation marks: »

“The longer you put it off,” he said, “the harder it's going to be.”