Adjacent Words

Periodic definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

PERIOD'IC
PERIOD'ICAL, a.
1. Performed in a circuit, or in a regular revolution in a certain time, or in a series of successive circuits; as the periodical motion of the planets round the sun; the periodical motion of the moon round the earth.
2. Happening by revolution, at a stated time; as, the conjunction of the sun and moon is periodical.
3. Happening or returning regularly in a certain period of time. The Olympiads among the Greeks were periodical, as was the jubilee of the Jews.
4. Performing some action at a stated time; as the periodical fountains in Switzerland, which issue only at a particular hour of the day.
5. Pertaining to a period; constituting a complete sentence.
6. Pertaining to a revolution or regular circuit.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: happening or recurring at regular intervals; "the periodic appearance of the seventeen-year locust" [syn: periodic, periodical] [ant: aperiodic, nonperiodic]
2: recurring or reappearing from time to time; "periodic feelings of anxiety" [syn: periodic, occasional]

Merriam Webster's

adjective Date: 1642 1. a. occurring or recurring at regular intervals b. occurring repeatedly from time to time 2. a. consisting of or containing a series of repeated stages, processes, or digits ; cyclic <periodic decimals> <a periodic vibration> b. being a function any value of which recurs at regular intervals 3. expressed in or characterized by periodic sentences

Oxford Reference Dictionary

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). Phrases and idioms: 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. Derivatives: periodicity n. Etymology: F périodique or L periodicus f. Gk periodikos (as PERIOD)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Periodic Per`i*od"ic, a. [Pref. per- + iodic.] (Chem.) Pertaining to, derived from, or designating, the highest oxygen acid (HIO?) of iodine.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Periodic Pe`ri*od"ic, Periodical Pe`ri*od"ic*al, a. [L. periodicus, Gr. ?: cf. F. p['e]riodique.] 1. Of or pertaining to a period or periods, or to division by periods. The periodicaltimes of all the satellites. --Sir J. Herschel. 2. Performed in a period, or regular revolution; proceeding in a series of successive circuits; as, the periodical motion of the planets round the sun. 3. 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. The periodic return of a plant's flowering. --Henslow. To influence opinion through the periodical press. --Courthope. 4. (Rhet.) Of or pertaining to a period; constituting a complete sentence. Periodic comet (Astron.), a comet that moves about the sun in an elliptic orbit; a comet that has been seen at two of its approaches to the sun. Periodic function (Math.), a function whose values recur at fixed intervals as the variable uniformly increases. The trigonomertic functions, as sin x, tan x, etc., are periodic functions. Exponential functions are also periodic, having an imaginary period, and the elliptic functions have not only a real but an imaginary period, and are hence called doubly periodic. Periodic law (Chem.), the generalization that the properties of the chemical elements are periodic functions of their atomic wieghts. ``In other words, if the elements are grouped in the order of their atomic weights, it will be found that nearly the same properties recur periodically throughout the entire series.'' The following tabular arrangement of the atomic weights shows the regular recurrence of groups (under I., II., III., IV., etc.), each consisting of members of the same natural family. The gaps in the table indicate the probable existence of unknown elements.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

Periodic events or situations happen occasionally, at fairly regular intervals. ...periodic bouts of illness. = periodical ADJ: usu ADJ n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a.; (also periodical) Recurring (regularly).

Moby Thesaurus

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