Adjacent Words

periodical definitions

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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] n
1: a publication that appears at fixed intervals

Merriam Webster's

I. adjective Date: 1601 1. periodic 1 2. a. published with a fixed interval between the issues or numbers b. published in, characteristic of, or connected with a periodical II. noun Date: 1798 a periodical publication

Britannica Concise

Publication whose issues appear at fixed or regular intervals. Periodicals generally are considered to include newspapers, which usually have large, unfastened pages and contents with considerable immediacy; and magazines, or journals, which have smaller pages, are usually fastened or bound, and often have more specialized, less time-dependent contents.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & adj. --n. a newspaper, magazine, etc. issued at regular intervals, usu. monthly or weekly. --adj. 1 published at regular intervals. 2 periodic, occasional. Derivatives: periodically adv.

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.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Periodical Pe`ri*od"ic*al, n. A magazine or other publication which appears at stated or regular intervals.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(periodicals) 1. Periodicals are magazines, especially serious or academic ones, that are published at regular intervals. The walls would be lined with books and periodicals. N-COUNT 2. Periodical events or situations happen occasionally, at fairly regular intervals. She made periodical visits to her dentist. = periodic ADJ: usu ADJ n • periodically Meetings are held periodically to monitor progress on the case... ADV: ADV with v

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. n. Magazine, review, serial. II. a. See periodic

Moby Thesaurus

airing, almanac, alternate, annual, bandying, bimonthly, biweekly, book, broadcast, broadcasting, bruiting, bruiting about, circulation, daily, daybook, diary, diffusion, display, dissemination, ephemeris, evulgation, fortnightly, gazette, hebdomadal, isochronal, issuance, issue, journal, magazine, monthly, newsletter, newsmagazine, newspaper, organ, paper, pictorial, printing, promulgation, propagation, publication, publishing, quarterly, recurring, renew, review, serial, slick magazine, spread, spreading, spreading abroad, telecasting, trade magazine, ventilation, weekly, yearbook