periodn.adj.adv.
/ˈpɪərɪəd/, U.S. /ˈpɪriəd/ A. n.
I. A length of time, esp. one marked by the occurrence of a phenomenon.
* A length of time, without the necessary implication of recurrence.† 1. Medicine. The time during which a disease runs its course; the time occupied by each attack of an intermittent fever. Also: each of the successive phases in the progress of a disease. Obsolete.† 2. The time during which something runs its course, duration; allotted time; natural lifespan. Obsolete.In quot. c1475 referring to the duration of a government or city, as marked by astronomical occurrences.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > [noun] > stage of disease
period?a1425
stade1710
stadium1726
stage1747
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > [noun] > course of disease
run1680
anabasis1706
period1726
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > fever > [noun] > attack of > period of
period1893
?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (N.Y. Acad. Med.) f. 22v Apostemez yn periodez, i. circuites [?c1425 Paris in termes], and in paroxismez, i. accessez, & in crises, i. alteracions or domez, seweþ þe analogie, i. comparicioun or proporcioun, of þe materiez.
1543 B. Traheron tr. J. de Vigo Most Excellent Wks. Chirurg. i. ii. f. 50/2 Optalmia hath certaine paroxysmes or fyttes, and periodes or courses.
1726 Quincy's Lexicon Physico-medicum (ed. 3) Period is the Space in which a Distemper continues from its Beginning to its Declension; and such as return after a certain Space, with like Symptoms, are called Periodical Distempers.
1771 Encycl. Brit. III. 68/2 The vibices, or large livid or dark greenish marks, seldom appear till very near the fatal period.
1832 W. Hamilton in Edinb. Rev. July 469 Under the terms crudity, coction and evacuation, were designated the three principal periods of diseases, as dependent on an alteration of the morbific matter.
1893 New Sydenham Soc. Lexicon Period,..the time during which a disease progresses from its accession to its declension; also, those marked changes that characterize the progress of a disease, of which there are said to be five,—the invasion, the augment, the state, or full development, the decline, and the termination.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > duration > [noun]
lengtha1240
date?1316
durationc1384
hautesse1399
quantity?a1425
periodc1475
tracta1513
allowance1526
continuance1530
wideness1535
continue1556
protense1590
countenance1592
stay1595
standing1600
dimension1605
longanimity1607
longinquity1607
insisture1609
existence1615
unprivationa1628
continuity1646
protension1654
measure1658
course1665
contention1666
propagation1741
protensity1886
c1475 tr. A. Chartier Quadrilogue (Univ. Coll. Oxf.) (1974) 137 In the celestiall book of the firmament..may be knowen the cours and lastinge of the lordshipps and citees, the whiche the naturiens callen the periode [Fr. periode].
1483 ( tr. G. Deguileville Pilgrimage of Soul (Caxton) (1859) iv. xxvi. 72 For the tyme and paryode bifore ordeyned of the first maker.
a1500 tr. A. Chartier Traité de l'Esperance (Rawl.) (1974) 19 (MED) Feble Natur..was..alwayes made redy and susteyned vttirly with his power..for to make vs endure our litill rightfull peryode.
1590 T. Lodge Rosalynde: Euphues Golden Legacie f. 1 v You see that Fate hath set a period of my yeares.
1614 W. Raleigh Hist. World i. v. iii. §13. 497 Vnto all Dominions God hath set their periods.
1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §587 How by Art to make Plants more lasting than their ordinary Period.
a1676 M. Hale Primitive Originat. Mankind (1677) i. iii. 86 Then he could never have ridden out an eternal period.
1785 T. Jefferson Notes Virginia vi. 74 If..he [sc. the elephant] has been preserved in life in the temperate climates of Europe, it has only been for a small portion of what would have been his natural period.
3.
a. A length of time in history characterized by some prevalent or distinguishing condition, circumstance, occurrence, etc., or by the rule of a particular government, dynasty, etc.; an age, era.
ΚΠ
1596 E. Coote Eng. Schoole-maister sig. K1 Then marke how I haue diuided the yeares of the world into fiue parts, called fiue periods.
1664 H. More Expos. 7 Epist. c 7 a The more-then-ordinary frequentness of burning the blessed Protestant Martyrs..in this Period.
1702 L. Echard Gen. Eccl. Hist. iii. viii. 468 From this Year [sc. 312] began that noted Æra or Period of Time call'd The Indiction.
1780 E. Burke Speech Bristol previous to Election 27 The Reformation, one of the greatest periods of human improvement, was a time of trouble and confusion.
1815 J. Scott Visit to Paris x. 189 The wars of the period..repressed, to a most deplorable degree, what is properly understood by good society.
1870 F. M. Müller Sci. Relig. (1873) 66 Niobe was, in a former period of language, a name of snow and winter.
1910 Encycl. Brit. I. 530/1 Alcuin is the most prominent figure of the Carolingian Renaissance, in which have been distinguished three main periods.
1944 J. S. Huxley On Living in Revol. 9 The inadequacy of British production and planning during the Chamberlain ‘phony war’ period.
2000 Church Times 4 Feb. 11/2 The crucifix could not have dated from the Nomoli period.
b. of the period: belonging to or characteristic of the time in question or under consideration; (also) characteristic of the present day (now rare). Cf. day n. 14b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > relative time > the present (time) > [noun]
instancec1374
nowa1393
presenta1425
nowadays?c1425
the time1484
presentens1509
here1608
present tense1630
now1633
the now1720
day1766
today1831
this day and age1832
of the period1859
nowaday1886
these days1936
1814 W. Scott Waverley I. x. 128 He was dressed carelessly, and more like a Frenchman than an Englishman of the period . View more context for this quotation
1859 A. J. Munby Diary 19 July in D. Hudson Munby (1972) 39 An Englishman of the period, smoking a cigar; his dress is ‘civilized’—he wears gloves.
1871 M. Collins Marquis & Merchant II. i. 2 Some of them grow ‘fast’, and ‘loud’—mere ‘girls of the period’.
1902 G. B. Shaw Mrs. Warren's Profession Pref. p. xv Both plots conform to the strictest rules of the period.
1933 E. O'Neill Ah, Wilderness! i. 15 The room is..furnished with scrupulous medium-priced tastelessness of the period.
2002 New Yorker 9 Dec. 130/2 Like other bookish boys of the period, he dreamed of going into journalism.
c. With possessive: the particular era or time in which a writer or academic specializes.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > perception or cognition > faculty of ideation > topic, subject-matter > affair, business, concern > [noun] > field of interest > time of
period1912
1912 Dict. National Biogr. 1901–11 I. 309/2 Some of the episodes..exhibit beauty and pathos, which the author's fidelity to his period enabled him to clothe in an idiom of purity and charm.
1958 M. Kelly Christmas Egg i. 29 He had been at a loss for the date of the battle of Agincourt, and had excused himself with the plea that it was outside his period.
1991 M. Falk Part of Furnit. (BNC) 5 Bernini was arguably the most important architect and sculptor in my period.
d. out of period: anachronistic; not in keeping with the times; (in drama, fiction, etc.) not in keeping with the time that is being depicted.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > a suitable time or opportunity > untimeliness > [adjective] > involving anachronism
anachronistic1778
anachronous1795
anachronismatical1801
anachronistical1832
anachronizing1870
out of period1940
1940 A. Seyler Let. in A. Seyler & S. Haggard Craft of Comedy 78 That woman ought to dance as she moves in a seventeenth-century play, to sail in an eighteenth-century one [etc.]... Roughly, then, she wouldn't be out of period.
1961 C. Willock Death in Covert iii. 66 A serving-wench..asked him: ‘Sack, mulled claret, or Madeira?’ Mr Goss felt that two at least of these were out of period.
2001 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 18 Aug. 10 Why is it that in many films and documentaries, the vehicles featured are out of period?
4. An indefinite portion, spell, or interval of time; a portion of one's life.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > [noun] > stretch, period, or portion of time > period of certain character, condition, or events
dayOE
dayOE
summer day1563
tempestivity1569
set1633
stretch1689
period1712
run1714
tack1723
spell1827
dreamtime1844
time coursea1867
patch1897
dreaming1932
quality time1972
1612 T. Taylor Αρχὴν Ἁπάντων: Comm. Epist. Paul to Titus i. 3 In that period of time, which the wisdome of God hath impropriated unto them.
a1652 J. Smith Select Disc. (1660) vi. xiii. 278 Things..that were cast into periods of time secluded one from another by vast intervals.
1712 J. Addison Spectator No. 453. ¶18 Through every Period of my Life Thy Goodness I'll pursue.
1798 M. Wollstonecraft Maria i The length of these lucid periods only rendered her more mischievous.
1839 Visitor 479/1 Living objects, if they remain motionless during the short periods of exposure, are given with perfect fidelity.
1882 W. Ballantine Some Exper. Barrister's Life xxxvii. 355 I rarely kept a diary, and only interjectionally, at long intervals and for short periods.
1946 Jane's Fighting Ships 1944–5 229/2 The ‘Schnorkel’, or breathing tube,..enabled submarines to remain submerged for much longer periods.
2002 Daily Tel. 4 Oct. 40/3 In some areas, like IT, temps may only be needed for short periods, and paid more than the perms.
5.
a. A definite portion or division of time; a fixed number of years, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > [noun] > stretch, period, or portion of time > definite period
fecc1000
limita1616
limitationa1616
perioda1751
a1751 Visct. Bolingbroke Lett. Study Hist. (1752) I. vi. 236 The particular periods into which the whole period should be divided.
1793 E. Burke Corr. (1844) IV. 141 Twenty years would be too long a period to fix for such an event.
1804 W. Cruise Digest Laws Eng. Real Prop. III. 551 Where a person acquires a new right, he is allowed a new period of twenty years to pursue his remedy.
1855 H. H. Milman Hist. Lat. Christianity V. xi. viii. 207 The termination of a centenary period in the history of man.
1906 Westm. Gaz. 15 Sept. 4/1 Prepared to join the suggested training battalion for a further period of six months.
1967 S. S. Bodcock & N. Sprague Explor. Stimulation as Retirement Educ. Technique (Nat. Council Aging, U.S.) 11 The stimulation proceeds in a series of ten two-year periods.
2002 Making Property Work (Land Securities PLC) Mar. 45/4 The chairman and non-executive directors are currently appointed for an initial period of three years.
b. With modifying word: a portion of the career of an artist, writer, etc., characterized by a particular style, method, colour, etc.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > painting > [noun] > painter > portion of artist's life
period1862
1862 G. W. Thornbury Life J. M. W. Turner I. 351 In this first period Turner's oil paintings were bold and dark.
1891 O. Wilde Picture of Dorian Gray xix. 319 What has become of that wonderful portrait he did of you?.. It belonged to Basil's best period.
1925 R. Fry Let. 1 May (1972) II. 568 Lady Cunard..wanted a Picasso of the blue period.
1952 ‘W. Cooper’ Struggles of Albert Woods ii. iv. 100 I hardly know Picasso's rose period from his blue.
1978 J. Hansen Man Everybody was Afraid Of xii. 93 She handed Dave one of the mugs. ‘From my potting period.’
1990 B. Gill N.Y. Life xxix. 236 Perceiving that he had pretty well exhausted the technical fascination of trash, Simenon plunged into what he has called his semiliterary period.
c. In a school or other educational establishment: each of the set divisions of the day allocated to a lesson or other activity.See also free period n. at free adj., n., and adv. Compounds 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > education > educational administration > school administration > [noun] > time of one lesson
period1873
free period1892
1873 Times 3 Apr. 6/6 In every school the period for Bible instruction in the morning must be either between 9 15 and 9 45, or between 11 30 and noon.
1876 C. M. Yonge Womankind xiii. 92 Most people's breakfast hour coincides with this only period permitted [in National Schools] for religious teaching.
1930 Times Educ. Suppl. 18 Jan. 21/2 The pupil has five periods a week..for French.
1974 H. L. Foster Ribbin', Jivin', & Playin' Dozens i. 8 Hey, Teach, we work a period, read comics a period, and then take off the last period—OK?
2001 Daily Tel. 11 June 9/5 Six periods a week of non-examined teaching in arts, literature, philosophy and history.
d. Chiefly North American. Each of the intervals into which the playing time of a sports match or contest is divided. Cf. quarter n. 2e.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > match or competition > [noun] > game or definite spell of play > period of play
half1876
quarter1889
period1898
forty1913
stanza1945
1898 Earl of Suffolk et al. Encycl. Sport II. 128/2 The duration of play in a match shall be one hour, divided into three periods of twenty minutes.
1935 Encycl. Sports, Games & Pastimes 359/2 Two timekeepers..inform the referee..that the end of each period or rest has arrived.
1974 State (Columbia, S. Carolina) 3 Mar. 1- d/1 The Paladins opened 11-point leads on three occasions in the final period.
2000 Star-Ledger (Newark, New Jersey) 4 Jan. 58/2 Forward Matt Lapaglia registered a natural hat trick in a span of four minutes in the first period against Middlebury.
6. Geology. A major division of geological time; (now) spec. one that is a subdivision of an era and is itself divided into epochs.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > age or period > [noun]
age1813
group1829
period1833
aeon1879
group1886
moment1933
1833 C. Lyell Princ. Geol. III. 54 The period next antecedent we shall call Eocene.
1853 J. Phillips Rivers, Mountains, & Sea-coast Yorks. iv. 124 All Holderness was a sea-bed in the ‘glacial’ period.
1881 Geol. Mag. 8 558 According to this scheme, we would speak of the Palæozoic Group or Era, the Silurian System or Period, the Ludlow Series or Epoch, [etc.].
1927 E. D. Laborde tr. E. de Martonne Shorter Physical Geogr. x. 145 During the quaternary period a general fall in temperature caused a great part of Europe and North America to be covered with glaciers.
1952 W. J. Miller Introd. Hist. Geol. (ed. 6) xxiii. 359 It is much more satisfactory and less confusing to use ‘Tertiary’ and ‘Quaternary’ as ‘periods’ of the Cenozoic ‘era’.
2002 Nation (N.Y.) 10 June 30/3 The lump of stone that crashed into..the Yucatan Peninsula ended the Cretaceous Period.
** A recurring length of time; something which conforms to a regular or cyclical pattern.
7. † c. Physiology period of the blood n. the circulation of the blood; the time taken for the blood to circulate once round the body. Obsolete.
a. Chronology. A length of time consisting of a definite number of years, marked by the recurrence of particular astronomical coincidences. Cf. cycle n.1 2.Periods used as chronological units are usually marked by the coincidence of a particular point in the lunar cycle with a particular point in the solar year, so that new and full moons occur on the same days in corresponding years of successive periods. Callippic, Dionysian, lunisolar, Metonic period, etc.: see the first element.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > period > cycle of time > [noun] > as a unit in chronology
cycle1387
year1548
period1613
1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage 168 After Scaliger..this yeare 1612 is the 1614 of Christ, of the world 5461..of the Iulian Period 6325.
a1656 J. Ussher Ann. World (1658) To Rdr. 4 Having placed therefore the heads of this Period in the Kalends of January, in that proleptick year, the first of our Christian vulgar account must be reckoned the 4714 of the Julian Period.
1694 W. Holder Disc. Time iii. 40 A Cycle, or Period, is an Account of Years that has a Beginning and an End too; And then begins again..as often as it ends.
1704 J. Harris Lexicon Technicum I Period, in Chronology, signifies a Revolution of a certain Number of Years; as the Metonick Period, the Julian Period, and the Calippick Period.
1718 H. Prideaux Old & New Test. Connected II. i. iv. 231 In the language of Chronologers a Cycle is a round of several Years, and a Period a round of several Cycles.
1861 G. F. Chambers Handbk. Descr. Astron. vi. iv. 260 The Dionysian Period is obtained by a combination of the Lunar and Solar cycles.
1868 J. N. Lockyer Elem. Lessons Astron. (1879) 102 This period of 18 years 10 days is a cycle of the Moon, known to the ancient Chaldeans and Greeks under the name of Saros.
1972 Jrnl. Brit. Astron. Assoc. 82 431 There are two series of occultations by the Moon per period of 18.6 years—the regression period of the lunar nodes.
2002 Isis 93 297/2 The book is a reevaluation of key calendar-associated sources (the 25-year lunar cycle in Papyrus Carlsberg 9, the Censorinus text on the so-called Sothic period or cycle of 1,460 years..).
b. Astronomy. The time in which a celestial object, satellite, etc., performs one revolution about its primary (or about the centre of gravity of its system) or rotates once on its axis.In quot. 1646 referring to the apparent annual motion of the sun along the ecliptic.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the universe > planet > primary planet > secondary planet, satellite > [noun] > time taken to perform orbit
period1646
periodic time1715
time1764
1646 S. Danforth Almanack 4 The annuall periods of the Sun agree not together, in regard of the unaequal praecession of the aequinoctiall.
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. (at cited word) The Periods of the Comets are now many of 'em pretty well ascertain'd.
1741 I. Watts Improvem. Mind i. xvi. 230 Tell these Persons..that the Earth with all the Planets roll round the Sun in their several Periods.
1834 Nat. Philos. (Libr. Useful Knowl.) III. Astron. iii. 69/1 Her time of being again in the same direction with the sun, is called her synodic period, or synodic revolution.
1854 D. Brewster More Worlds ii. 29 Its [sc. Uranus's] year, or annual period, is eighty-four years.
1955 Sci. Amer. June 10/3 The seventh satellite..revolves in an eccentric orbit, at a mean distance of about six million miles, with a period of some 200 days.
1992 S. P. Maran Astron. & Astrophysics Encycl. 64/2 Most binary systems are in synchronized rotation; that is, the orbital period is the same as the rotational period of each component.
ΚΠ
1738 E. Chambers Cycl. (ed. 2) (at cited word) Period of the blood, Periodus sanguinis, the circle of the blood, or the tour it makes round the body, for the support of life.
d. Any length of time defined by the regular recurrence of a phenomenon or cyclical process.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > period > cycle of time > [noun] > of events, etc.
wheel?c1225
cycle1664
period1796
1796 E. Darwin Zoonomia II. iv. ii. 518 Some kinds of erysipeles occur at monthly periods..and others at annual periods.
1850 J. McCosh Method Divine Govt. (ed. 2) ii. i. 137 The tides of the ocean..flow in periods.
1862 J. Tyndall Mountaineering in 1861 xi The heart beats by periods.
1902 Westm. Gaz. 19 Aug. 8/1 This hypothesis is in full accord with the ‘climate-period of thirty-five years’ recently put forward by Professor Brückner.
1990 Sci. Amer. Apr. 67/1 The internal rhythm has a period of about 24 hours; when the crab is exposed to natural light, signals from photoreceptor cells in its tail help to keep the circadian clock synchronized with the actual cycle of light and darkness.
e. Physics. The interval of time between successive occurrences of the same state or phase in an oscillatory or cyclic phenomenon (e.g. a mechanical vibration, an alternating current, or a variable star).
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > ceasing > temporary cessation of activity or operation > [noun] > a temporary cessation of activity or operation > between two events, actions, operations, etc.
intervalc1386
intervallum1574
wheta1628
interstice1639
period1865
grace period1880
tea break1948
1865 J. Tyndall Radiation xv. 52 The rays of light differ from those of invisible heat only in point of period.
1869 Fortn. Rev. Feb. 230 The energy transmitted to the eye from a candle-flame half a mile distant is more than sufficient to inform consciousness; while waves of a different period, possessing many times this energy have no effect whatever.
1879 W. Thomson & P. G. Tait Treat. Nat. Philos. (new ed.) I: Pt. i. §54 The Period of a simple harmonic motion is the time which elapses from any instant until the moving point again moves in the same direction through the same position.
1905 A. M. Clerke Syst. of Stars viii. 97 So far only a small proportion (417) of the stars recognised as variable have had periods assigned to them.
1946 L. Toft & A. T. J. Kersey Theory of Machines (ed. 5) iii. 66 a is..called the amplitude; t is the time of a complete oscillation, called the period or periodic time.
1988 T. Ferris Coming of Age in Milky Way (1989) i. ix. 169 The period of each Cepheid—i.e., the time it takes to go through a cycle of variation in brightness—is directly related to its intrinsic brightness.
8. More fully monthly period. An occurrence of menstruation.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > organs of excretion > excretions > menses > [noun]
monthlyeOE
menstruuma1398
flowerc1400
menstrue?a1425
women's evilc1450
menstruosity1503
courses1563
monthly time1564
reds1568
month courses1574
purgation1577
women's courses1577
month1578
menses1597
menstruals1598
flourish1606
nature1607
fluors1621
mois1662
period1690
catamenia1764
turn1819
visitor1980
1690 R. Brown tr. Plutarch Of Nat. Affections in tr. Plutarch Morals IV. 224 In Women, what Blood abounds more than serves for necessary Uses..is by Nature in monthly Periods discharged by proper Canals and Passages, for the Relief and Purgation of the Body.
1694 W. Salmon tr. Y. van Diemerbroeck Anat. Human Bodies (new ed.) ii. 34 She told me..that it was a good while before her Monthly Period would be up.
1762 W. Smellie Treat. Midwifery (ed. 4) I. 109 If the flux be so frequent or immoderate as to exhaust the strength of the patient, it will be necessary to prescribe bleeding before the return of period.
1766 L. Carter Diary 24 July (1965) I. 320 My daughter..went to the great race, when it seems it was a most improper time being her Lunar period... She danced though sick for her period coming on.
1806 Med. & Physical Jrnl. 15 29 About five years ago the monthly period ceased, and since that time the head-ach became universal.
1826 Lancet 3 June 292/1 May not a woman who has missed her month conceive at any interval before the next period?
1891 I. Ellis Essent. Conception 28 (advt.) Ladies' ‘period’ towels.
1922 J. Joyce Ulysses ii. xiii. [Nausicaa] 358 Some women for instance warn you off when they have their period.
1956 R. M. Lester Towards Hereafter x. 123 I missed a period and with high hopes I went to see my G.P. and told him the glad news.
2000 Observer 18 June 2/5 The age of the first period had fallen below 13 in Britain for the first time.
9. Mathematics. The interval between any two successive equal values of a periodic function.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > algebra > [noun] > expression > function > value or set of values of > difference or interval between values
period1879
oscillation1893
variation1905
1879 A. Cayley Coll. Math. Papers X. 468 The theta-functions have the quarter-periods (1, 1), the half-periods (2, 2), and the whole periods (4, 4).
1882 G. M. Minchin Uniplanar Kinematics 13 If ϕ (x + nλ) = ϕ (x),..n being any integer and λ a constant, ϕ (x) is a periodic function of x, its period being λ.
1951 W. W. Elliott & E. R. C. Miles College Math. (ed. 2) xv. 196 Sin θ is a periodic function of θ. The period is 360°.
1991 J. Woodhouse in C. Bondi New Applic. Math. ix. 206 It certainly describes repetitive motion, since the sine and cosine functions are both periodic, with period 2π.
10. Chemistry. A horizontal row in the periodic table of the elements; the set of elements occupying such a row, usually comprising an alkali metal and those elements of greater atomic number up to and including the next noble gas. Contrasted with group n. 6c.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > chemistry > elements and compounds > periodicity > [noun]
law of octaves1865
periodic law1872
periodic system1875
period1879
periodicity1879
periodic classification1881
periodic table1890
1879 Chem. News 5 Dec. 268/1 In the first [table] the elements are placed in large periods, with their atomic weights. In the second they are arranged in groups and series, that is to say, in small periods, in such a manner that the differences between the odd and even series become very apparent.
1922 T. M. Lowry Inorg. Chem. xxxi. 533 The elements after hydrogen were thus grouped into two short periods or octaves of seven elements followed by four long periods each containing two octaves and a triad.
1946 J. R. Partington Gen. & Inorg. Chem. x. 262 The rare-earth elements in this period (sometimes called lanthanides, to distinguish them from the total number of rare-earth elements which includes scandium and yttrium in earlier periods).
1974 D. M. Adams Inorg. Solids ii. 37 Across each period of the Periodic Table, ionic radii decrease with increasing charge and atomic number.
2001 O. Sacks Uncle Tungsten xvi. 189 He arranged the elements, quite simply, in order of their atomic weights, in horizontal ‘periods’, as he [sc. Mendeleev] called them.
II. An end, a completion.† 12. figurative. An end to be attained, a goal; a purpose, point. Obsolete.† 13. The highest point reached in any process or course; a zenith. Obsolete.† 14. A particular point in the course or progress of something; a point or stage; a moment, occasion. Obsolete.† 15. The end of a journey; a destination. Obsolete.
11. † a. The final stage of any process or course of action; an outcome, final event. In oratory, discourse, etc.: a concluding sentence; a peroration, summing-up. Obsolete.† c. A momentary or temporary cessation. Obsolete. rare.† d. Death. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > speech-making > [noun] > a speech > concluding speech or part of speech
parclosec1390
conclusionc1405
period1532
peroration1550
close1578
corollary1603
epilogue1644
closing argument1819
snapper1857
the world > action or operation > completing > [noun] > a conclusion or end
finea1300
head1340
conclusion1382
close1399
finishmentc1400
issue1479
pass1542
tittle est Amen1568
wind-up1573
wind-up-all1573
upshot1586
catastrophe1609
come-off1640
period1713
pay-off1926
the world > existence and causation > causation > effect, result, or consequence > [noun] > outcome or that which results
issuea1325
outcominga1382
conclusionc1384
endc1385
fruita1400
finec1405
termination?a1425
sumc1430
succession1514
sequel1524
game1530
success1537
event1539
pass1542
increase1560
outgate1568
exit1570
cropc1575
utmosta1586
upshoot1598
sequence1600
upshot1604
resultance1616
upshut1620
succedenta1633
apotelesm1636
come-off1640
conclude1643
prosult1647
offcome1666
resultant1692
outlet1710
period1713
outcome1788
outrun1801
outcome1808
upset1821
overcome1822
upping1828
summary1831
outgo1870
upcomec1874
out-turn1881
end-product1923
pay-off1926
wash-up1961
the world > relative properties > order > order, sequence, or succession > end or conclusion > [noun] > conclusion or final result
conclusionc1384
uttermost1470
summa summarum1567
loose1589
conclude1643
period1713
outcome1788
pay-off1926
1532 L. Cox Art or Crafte Rhetoryke sig. D.ii The periode or conclusion standeth in the briefe enumeracion of thinges spoken afore, and in mouyng the affections.
1581 J. Bell tr. W. Haddon & J. Foxe Against Jerome Osorius 404 Mystres money made upp alwayes the peryode of the play.
1616 W. Forde Serm. 64 So shall it be the period and end of my discourse.
1713 J. Addison Cato i. iii O think what anxious moments pass between The birth of plots, and their last fatal periods.
1769 W. Robertson Hist. Charles V III. vii. 28 Conducting the deliberations..to such a successful period.
b. An end, conclusion; the point of completion of a process, etc. †to set down one's period: to reach a conclusion (obsolete). to put a (also some) period to: to bring to an end. Formerly also †to give (also set) a period to.In some uses perhaps influenced by sense A. 17a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > completing > [noun] > a conclusion or end > point of completion
terminationc1500
period1554
the world > relative properties > order > order, sequence, or succession > end or conclusion > [noun] > a limit, end, or term
endc1000
pointc1330
terma1398
datec1400
limec1420
period1554
full stopa1586
stopa1586
coda1836
mop1945
1554 J. Lydgate tr. Fall of Princes iv. x. f. cviiiv Periody of pryncis may not chaunged be, The terme set fro which they may not flee.
1590 R. Greene Mourning Garment 17 She glaunced hir lookes on all,..but at last she set downe her period on the face of Alexis, thinking he was the fairest.
?1594 H. Constable Diana (new ed.) sig. F4v Give period to my matter of complaining.
1601 R. Johnson in tr. G. Botero Trauellers Breuiat sig. A2v I put a period to these lines.
1615 R. Hamor True Disc. Present Estate Virginia 28 If by these meanes God has ordained to set a period to their liues, they could neuer be sacrificed in a more acceptable seruice.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 1 (1623) iv. ii. 17 The period of thy Tyranny approacheth. View more context for this quotation
1654 R. Codrington tr. Justinus Hist. ix. 139 This day did set a period to all Greece, in the respect of their antient liberty.
1670 J. Evelyn Let. 20 Jan. in Diary & Corr. (1859) III. 221 The subject of it being..the war..not yet brought to a period.
1676 M. Hale Contempl. Moral & Divine i. 52 A little..accident..may put a period to all those pleasures..in an unthought of moment.
1705 G. Stanhope Paraphr. Epist. & Gospels I. 140 A thing past and now come to a Period.
1750 S. Johnson Rambler No. 54. ⁋2 A man accustomed..to trace things from their origin to their period.
1766 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. II. ix. 143 Every estate which must expire at a period certain and prefixed,..is an estate for years.
1805 B. Finch Emma Starbridge in Sonnets & Other Poems 86 This spot, so frequently the witness of your tyranny, and of my sufferings, is destined as that in which both shall know a period.
1814 H. F. Cary tr. Dante Vision III. xvi. 137 The just anger that hath..put a period to your gladsome days.
1882 R. L. Stevenson New Arabian Nights I. 145 I mean to put a period to this..prodigality.
1957 Pract. Wireless 32 384/1 The Director General [of the B.B.C.] should really put some period to those snobbish Chelsea types who wish to give Kensington drawing-room type of pronunciation to words and place names.
1991 S. Fry Liar (1992) ii. 81 Peter forbore once more to put a period to the rottenest life in the rottenest den in the rottenest borough in the rottenest city in all the rotten world.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > ceasing > [noun] > a stop or cessation of action or process
steadc1000
stayc1563
full stopa1586
period1590
death blow1596
vacation1617
stand1625
let-up1836
estop1884
1590 C. Marlowe Tamburlaine: 2nd Pt. sig. G3 Yet shall my souldiers make no period Untill Natolia kneele before your feet.
1612 R. Daborne Christian turn'd Turke i. ii Vnfortunate sister, my heart dissolues to bloud, And payes sad tribute to thy sadder griefes. Nay, make no period, our woes are not at full.
1634 T. Herbert Relation Some Yeares Trauaile 101 All terrene ioyes are mixt with discontent and periods.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > death > [noun]
hensithOE
qualmOE
bale-sithea1000
endingc1000
fallOE
forthsitheOE
soulingOE
life's endOE
deathOE
hethensithc1200
last end?c1225
forthfarec1275
dying1297
finec1300
partingc1300
endc1305
deceasec1330
departc1330
starving1340
passingc1350
latter enda1382
obita1382
perishingc1384
carrion1387
departing1388
finishmentc1400
trespassement14..
passing forthc1410
sesse1417
cess1419
fininga1425
resolutiona1425
departisona1450
passagea1450
departmentc1450
consummation?a1475
dormition1483
debt to (also of) naturea1513
dissolutionc1522
expirationa1530
funeral?a1534
change1543
departure1558
last change1574
transmigration1576
dissolving1577
shaking of the sheets?1577
departance1579
deceasure1580
mortality1582
deceasing1591
waftage1592
launching1599
quietus1603
doom1609
expire1612
expiring1612
period1613
defunctiona1616
Lethea1616
fail1623
dismissiona1631
set1635
passa1645
disanimation1646
suffering1651
abition1656
Passovera1662
latter (last) end1670
finis1682
exitus1706
perch1722
demission1735
demise1753
translation1760
transit1764
dropping1768
expiry1790
departal1823
finish1826
homegoing1866
the last (also final, great) round-up1879
snuffing1922
fade-out1924
thirty1929
appointment in Samarra1934
dirt nap1981
big chill1987
1613 J. Donne Elegie Prince Henry in J. Sylvester Lachrymae Lachrimarum (ed. 3) sig. E For, both my centres feel This Period.
a1639 H. Wotton Parallel betweene Earle of Essex & Duke of Buckingham (1641) 13 Touching the Dukes [sc. Buckingham's] suddaine period.
a1682 Sir T. Browne Christian Morals (1716) ii. 64 The Tragical Exits and unexpected periods of some eminent Persons.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > intention > [noun] > intention or purpose > end, purpose, or object > goal or target
markc1275
lodestarc1374
aimc1400
mete1402
pricka1450
butta1522
level1525
white marka1533
goal1540
Jack-a-Lent1553
blankc1557
scope1562
period1590
upshot1591
bird1592
golden goal1597
nick1602
quarry1615
North Star1639
huba1657
fair game1690
endgame1938
target1942
cockshot1995
1590 C. Marlowe Tamburlaine: 1st Pt. sig. E4 If these had made one Poems period.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Merry Wives of Windsor (1623) iii. iii. 41 This is the period of my ambition. View more context for this quotation
1618 M. Baret Hipponomie i. 18 When you haue gotten the period of your desire.
1644 J. Milton Doctr. Divorce (ed. 2) 4 This therefore shall be the task and period of this discourse.
a1674 Earl of Clarendon Brief View Leviathan (1676) xxx. 184 Which without doubt must be the natural and final period of all his Prescriptions in Policy and Government.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > high position > [noun] > highest point or top
headOE
copa1000
heightOE
topc1000
highestlOE
crest1382
coperounc1400
summita1425
summity?a1425
toppet1439
altitude?a1475
upperest1484
principala1533
pitcha1552
supremity1584
culm1587
period1595
spire1600
upward1608
cope1609
fastigium1641
vertex1641
culmen1646
supreme1652
tip-top1702
peak1785
helm1893
altaltissimo1975
the world > action or operation > prosperity > advancement or progress > [noun] > state of or advanced condition > highest point
prickOE
heighta1050
full1340
higha1398
pointc1400
roofa1500
top-castle1548
ruff1549
acmea1568
tip1567
noontide1578
high tide1579
superlative1583
summity1588
spring tide1593
meridian1594
period1595
apogee1600
punctilio1601
high-water mark1602
noon1609
zenith1610
auge1611
apex1624
culmination1633
cumble1640
culmen1646
climax1647
topc1650
cumulus1659
summit1661
perigeum1670
highest1688
consummation1698
stretch1741
high point1787
perihelion1804
summary1831
comble1832
heading up1857
climacteric1870
flashpoint1878
tip-end1885
peak1902
noontime1903
Omega point1981
1595 G. Markham Most Honorable Trag. Sir R. Grinuile sig. F4v Since last the sunne Lookt from the hiest period of the sky.
1604 E. Grimeston tr. J. de Acosta Nat. & Morall Hist. Indies ii. vii. 98 When the sunne is in the period of his force in the burning Zone.
1608 D. Tuvill Ess. Politicke, & Morall f. 43v Nor was the massacre of this his warlike sonne the period of his furie.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > particular time > [noun]
sitheeOE
tidec897
timeeOE
mealeOE
whilec950
throwOE
charec1000
stevenOE
timeOE
seasona1300
tempest1382
world1389
occasionc1425
tidement1575
period1602
minute1607
hinta1670
epoch1728
1602 W. Watson Decacordon Ten Quodlibeticall Questions 341 If you aske of the Mathematician, how to passe betwixt two periods, he will tell you that [etc.].
1620 tr. G. Boccaccio Decameron I. iv. i. f. 147 In all things, euen till this instant, (being the vtmost period of my life) I haue euermore found my Fathers loue most effectuall to me.
1664 S. Butler Hudibras: Second Pt. ii. ii. 114 At fit Periods the whole Rout Set up their throats, with clamorous shout.
1720 A. Pope tr. Homer Iliad VI. xxiii. Observ. 125 The Death of Patroclus was the most eminent Period; and consequently the most proper Time for such Games.
1737 H. Bracken Farriery Improved xxii. 330 Blood is drawn at several Periods.
1793 J. Smeaton Narr. Edystone Lighthouse (ed. 2) §281 (note) The work being now brought to such a period that it could go on with less interruption.
1841 H. Reed Lect. Brit. Poets v. 103 The same year in which it is supposed Shakespeare left his native place for London was a period in the national history of England.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > edge, border, or margin > boundary > [noun] > boundary point
buttc1425
limit1598
period1605
1605 A. Willet Hexapla in Genesin 463 50 miles beyond..which was the vtmost period of their journey.
1633 Bp. J. Hall Plaine Explic. Hard Texts i. 430 They moued all foure together; and went right on to the period appointed.
1675 Mistaken Husband ii. i. 21 I'le take one Journey more, whose period Shall be my Tomb.
a1752 T. Fitzgerald Poems (1781) 125 And Isaac, now their Journey's Period found, Had thrown his cumbrous Burden to the Ground.
1789 in Burke's Corr. (1844) III. 87 Our best friends will not march, unless they can perceive a period to their journey.
III. A sequence of words, numerals, musical notes, etc.
16.
a. Rhetoric. A grammatically complete sentence, esp. one made up of a number of clauses formed into a balanced or rhythmical whole; (more generally) a series of sentences seen as a linguistic unit. In plural: rhetorical or ornamental language.Classical theories of rhetoric usually stipulated that a period should express a complete thought self-sufficiently. Some also held that the syntax and sense of a period should not be completed until the end of the sentence itself; thus the conclusion of the main clause or principal thought was to be suspended until after any subclauses, parenthetical elements, etc. Cf. colon n.2 1, comma n. 1.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > prose > [noun] > writing of prose > period, etc.
clausec1440
period1579
clausula1900
cursus1904
1579 E. K. in E. Spenser Shepheardes Cal. Ep. Ded. sig. ¶.ij The whole Periode & compasse of speache so delightsome for the roundnesse, and so graue for the straungenesse.
1592 T. Nashe Strange Newes sig. L4 I know two seuerall periods or full pointes in this last epistle, at least fortie lines long a piece.
1637 J. Milton Comus 20 Not a period Shall be unsaid for me.
1675 W. Temple Let. to Charles II in Wks. (1731) II. 330 He went on, and read a long Period in Cypher.
1749 J. Mason Ess. Power & Harmony Prosaic Numbers 66 Cicero..often postpones to the very last, that Verb or emphatical Word on which the whole Sense of the Period depends.
1782 W. Cowper Table Talk in Poems 517 If sentiment were sacrificed to sound, And truth cut short to make a period round.
1838 C. Thirlwall Hist. Greece V. 239 Isocrates was a Rhetorician by profession: the framing of sentences, and turning of periods, was the great business of his long life.
1869 T. H. Huxley in Sci. Opin. 21 Apr. 464 Those oddly constructed periods which seem to have prejudiced many persons against reading his works.
1875 W. D. Whitney Life & Growth Lang. x. 209 To put clauses together into periods.
1935 W. S. Maugham Don Fernando xi. 243 The liquid, exquisitely balanced periods fell from his lips like music.
1987 D. Tedlock in J. Sherzer & A. C. Woodbury Native Amer. Disc. v. 151 At one extreme several sentences may be treated as cola and linked to form a single period; at the other a single word (and one that does not make a sentence) may form a period all by itself.
1991 Raritan Summer 105 The measured periods of ‘The Idea of Order in Key West’..bespeaks a serious consideration for what the words ‘order’ and ‘disorder’ might account for.
b. Classical Prosody. A group of two or more cola (colon n.2 1); a metrical group of verses each containing two or more cola.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > poetry > versification > metre > [noun] > metrical group or period
measure1706
period1837
metre1838
metron1948
1837 H. Hallam Introd. Lit. Europe I. ii. 119 He was the first..who replaced the rude structure of periods by some degree of rhythm.
1882 W. Blades Life & Typogr. W. Caxton 126 The Greek grammarians..called a complete sentence a period, a limb was a colon, and a clause a comma.
1912 Classical Philol. 7 159 Repetition of the identical is everywhere rare in Greek lyric, within the cola as within the period.
1977 Classical Q. New Ser. 27 36 The analyst of Greek lyric meter traditionally has two main tasks: to analyse the metrical scheme into smaller groups, commonly called ‘cola’..and to determine the larger groups (‘periods’) into which the strophe or stanza is articulated.
17. † b. Rhetoric. A full pause of the kind made at the end of a sentence. Also figurative. Obsolete.Cf. comma n. 2b.
a. Now chiefly North American. The single point used to mark the end of a sentence; = full stop n. 1b. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > writing > written character > punctuation > [noun] > point or stop > full stop
pointc1395
period1582
full stop1643
stop1936
1582 R. Mulcaster 1st Pt. Elementarie xvii. 109 Those characts which signify but sound not.., which be in number thirtene, in name & form these: Coma, Colon: Period. Parenthesis (.)..[etc.].
1597 P. Bales Arte Brachygraphie sig. B3v The first is a full pricke or period.
1612 J. Brinsley Ludus Lit. viii. 95 In reading, that he [sc. the scholar] doe it distinctly, reading to a Period or full point, and there to stay.
1665 R. Hooke Micrographia 3 A point commonly so call'd, that is, the mark of a full stop, or period.
1748 J. Mason Ess. Elocution 24 A Comma stops the Voice while we may privately tell one, a Semi-colon two; a Colon three: and a Period four.
1766 Compl. Farmer at Surveying A point is..ordinarily expressed with a small prick, like a period at the end of a sentence.
1795 L. Murray Eng. Gram. 168 When a sentence is..complete and independent..it is marked with a Period.
1866 C. P. Mason Eng. Gram. (ed. 7) 121 Punctuation..4 The Full stop or Period.
1880 Chester (Pa.) Daily Times 1/4 A country schoolmaster once told his pupils to say ‘tick’ when they should come to a comma in reading.., and ‘tick, tick, tick, tick’ for a period, or full point.
1911 J. Muir My First Summer in Sierra 253 It rushes in thin sheets and folds of lace-work into a quiet pool,—‘Emerald Pool’, as it is called,—a stopping-place, a period separating two grand sentences.
1968 G. S. Haight George Eliot i. 17 Here, without ever a period, the story breaks off, though twelve blank pages follow in the Notebook.
2000 Pop. Photogr. July 74/3 (caption) Sticky termite: smaller than the period at the end of this sentence.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > speech-making > [noun] > a speech > pause
pausec1426
rest1575
period1587
hyphen1868
1587 R. Greene Penelopes Web sig. Bv She fell into consideration with her selfe that the longest Sommer hath his Autumne, the largest sentence his Period.
1589 G. Puttenham Arte Eng. Poesie ii. iv. 63 Much more might be sayd for the vse of your three pauses, comma, colon, & periode.
1594 W. Shakespeare Lucrece sig. E2v Shee puts the period often from his place. View more context for this quotation
a1637 B. Jonson Eng. Gram. ii. ix, in Wks. (1640) III The Distinction of a perfect Sentence hath a more full stay, and doth rest the spirit, which is a Pause, or a Period.
18. Mathematics. A set of digits in a long number marked off by commas or spaces to assist comprehension. Also: the set of repeating digits in a recurring decimal, indicated by dots placed over the first and last digits of the set.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > mathematical notation or symbol > [noun] > figure > groupings of figures
bimedial1570
member1608
degree1678
period1678
octad1801
1678 J. Hawkins Cocker's Arithm. i. 6 A Perio is when a Number consists of more than three figures, or places, and whose proper order is to prick or distinguish every third place..so..63.452.
a1690 S. Jeake Λογιστικηλογία (1696) 15 A Period is a comprehension of Degrees..as 123..12345, &c.
1690 W. Leybourn Cursus mathematicus 4 Numbers..of Three Figures, or Places..may properly be called a Period.
1704 J. Harris Lexicon Technicum I. (at cited word) A Period in Numbers, is a Distinction made by a Point, or Comma after every sixth Place or Figure; and is used in Numeration, for the readier distinguishing and naming the several Figures or Places.
1859 B. Smith Arith. & Algebra (ed. 6) 76 The part [of a recurring decimal] which is repeated is called the Period.
1928 Amer. Math. Soc. 35 84 In the case of rational numbers every further place is known, once its period has been found.
1996 J. H. Conway & R. K. Guy Bk. Numbers vi. 161 There are quite a lot of primes for which the decimal period of 1/p has its full length, p − 1.
19. Music. A passage, generally made up of two or four phrases, forming a complete musical idea and regarded as a distinct unit.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > piece of music > section of piece of music > [noun] > phrase > group of phrases
numbers1595
period1866
section1866
sentence1891
1782 C. Burney Gen. Hist. Music II. 171 Music..is now become a rich, expressive, and picturesque language in itself; having its forms, proportions, contrasts, punctuations, members, phrases, and periods.
1866 C. Engel Introd. Study National Music iii. 83 A period, however, does not necessarily always embrace eight bars.
1880 C. H. H. Parry in G. Grove Dict. Music II. 692 A Period is one of the divisions which characterise the form of musical works..the lesser divisions are phrases.
1957 E. T. Cone in N. Frye Sound & Poetry i. 7 Zelter. keeping close to the unusual stanza-form..produces a top-heavy musical period.
1985 J. Kerman Musicol. 80 This begins by abstracting or reducing explicit ‘surface’ phenomena such as themes and musical phrases and periods to their underlying harmonic areas.
B. adj.
Belonging to or characteristic of a particular historical period; deliberately old-fashioned or archaic in style, subject matter, etc.Used esp. with reference to style or design in architecture, dress, furniture, literature, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > relative time > the past > historical period > [adjective]
period1905
society > leisure > the arts > the arts in general > [adjective] > qualities of works generally
wateryc1230
polite?a1500
meagre1539
over-laboured1579
bald1589
spiritless1592
light1597
meretricious1633
standing1661
effectual1662
airy1664
severe1665
correct1676
enervatea1704
free1728
classic1743
academic1752
academical1752
chaste1753
nerveless1763
epic1769
crude1786
effective1790
creative1791
soulless1794
mannered1796
manneristical1830
manneristic1837
subjective1840
inartisticala1849
abstract1857
inartistic1859
literary1900
period1905
atmospheric1908
dateless1908
atmosphered1920
non-naturalistic1925
self-indulgent1926
free-styled1933
soft-centred1935
freestyle1938
pseudish1938
decadent1942
post-human1944
kitschy1946
faux-naïf1958
spare1965
1905 ‘M. Field’ (title) Borgia: a period play.
1914 H. D. Eberlein & A. McClure (title) The practical book of period furniture.
1927 Times 28 Oct. 17/3 The bride..wore a period gown of cream chiffon velvet, trimmed with seed pearls.
1935 N. Mitchison We have been Warned ii. 154 ‘You'll be saying you like the “Idylls of the King” next.’ ‘Oh, but I do. They're so deliciously period.’
1960 R. A. Knox Occas. Serm. xl. 331 It is all quite convincing, and beautifully period. Why is it so period?
2001 Times 28 Feb. ii. 24/4 Detached three-bedroom period cottage.
C. adv.
Originally and chiefly North American. Indicating that the preceding statement is final, absolute, or without qualification: and that is all there is to say about it, that is the sum of it, there is no more to be said. Cf. full stop adv.Based on the use, in speech, of ‘period’ (see sense A. 17a) as a verbless sentence to indicate a place where there is or should be a full stop.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > absence of doubt, confidence > assured fact, certainty > [adverb] > conclusively, decisively > emphasizing completion
period1914
full stop1916
1914 W. M. Blatt Husbands on Approval ii. 108 Have you finished what you were saying, Hamilton? Your heart has found its mate, period. That's all you wanted us to know, isn't it?
1920 H. Hall Egan xxii. 265 Egan laughed inquiringly. ‘That isn't all, is it?’ ‘That's the end. Period.’
1946 Sun (Baltimore) 2 Oct. 8 (advt.) A cigarette is supposed to give you pleasure. Period.
1948 H. Lawrence Death of Doll i. 21 ‘Lucky Monny to have her own pocket.’ ‘Stop that. Lucky Monny, period.’
1958 C. Rice & ‘E. McBain’ April Robin Murders (1959) xxii. 245 But Browne doesn't care... He wants the money, period.
1974 H. L. Foster Ribbin', Jivin', & Playin' Dozens vi. 285 It is wrong for any teacher to have an affair with a student, period.
2001 N.Y. Times Mag. 8 July 15/1 Like it or not, you are going to learn something today. Period.
Compounds
period costume n. (an item of) clothing that is a replica of that from an earlier historical period.
ΚΠ
1893 Newark (Ohio) Daily Advocate 6 Mar. 2/4 Laferrier's customers are being dressed in Henry II period costumes.]
1928 Musical Times Mar. 260/2 The Dolmetsch Dancers, who performed 16th-century dances in period costumes to period music played on period instruments.
1968 Daily Tel. 15 Nov. 19/8 During the 30-minute acceptance ceremony in Tokyo this morning, court musicians, wearing resplendent period costumes, played age-old instruments to produce ancient music known in Japan as ‘gagaku’.
2001 N.Y. Times 21 Jan. i. 35/4 He was associated with so-called living museums, where interpreters in period costume carry out the daily activities of another time.
period doubling n. (in chaos theory) a doubling of a period in a system exhibiting cyclic behaviour, following an incremental change of a system parameter (an indefinite sequence of such doublings marking the onset of chaotic behaviour).
ΚΠ
1980 SIAM Jrnl. Appl. Math. 38 407 As δ is increased further, we see a succession of such period-doublings, but they become increasingly difficult to detect.
1988 J. Gleick Chaos (U.K. ed.) 175 With the first period-doubling, the attractor splits in two, like a dividing cell.
1996 Sci. Amer. Mar. 25/1 The helium cell had revealed the first route to chaos, now designated the ‘period-doubling cascade’.
2001 New Scientist 24 Feb. 37/1 This period doubling continues until every eighth drop is the same, then every sixteenth, and before long only every infinitieth drop is the same—and that's chaos.
period instrument n. a musical instrument dating from, or made in the manner of, an earlier historical period, esp. one contemporary with the piece of music it is being used to play.
ΚΠ
1928 Musical Times Mar. 260/2 Period music played on period instruments.
1974 Gramophone Nov. 879 (advt.) The music will be performed on period instruments, strings, brass and keyboards only in the possession of the Smithsonian.
2000 Wall St. Jrnl. 1 Jan. 10/2 Will people perform the Beatles' music as it was originally performed, with ‘period instruments’?
period–luminosity adj. Astronomy designating or relating to a law relating the period of a variable star, esp. a cepheid, to its luminosity, used in establishing its distance from the earth.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the universe > star > kind of star > by light > [adjective] > variable
variable1788
irregular1903
period–luminosity1918
1918 H. Shapley in Contrib. Mt. Wilson Solar Observatory No. 153. 2 For parallaxes obtained with the period-luminosity curve the accuracy appears to surpass that of direct measures on any object for which the parallax is less than 0″·01.
1950 Sci. News 15 46 From the period-luminosity relation we then find the absolute magnitude, and so, knowing both m and M we can find the distance.
1992 S. P. Maran Astron. & Astrophysics Encycl. 21/1 The distance derived for the Cepheids from the period–luminosity relation placed M31 well beyond the bounds of our Milky Way.
period pain n. (frequently period pains) abdominal pain experienced during menstruation; an instance of this.
ΚΠ
1907 Daily Northwestern (Oshkosh, Wisconsin) 4 June 10/4 Neuralgia, Headache, Toothache, Period pains, etc., are due alone to blood congestion.
1976 W. H. Canaway Willow-pattern War xv. 156 She'd cried off at the last minute with a period pain.
1996 She Apr. 39/2 Feminax is also great for period pain because it contains hyoscine hydrobromide, a muscle relaxant.
2001 N. Jones Rough Guide Trav. Health i. 111 Period pains are no more likely to affect you travelling than they are at home.
period piece n. a work of art, furniture, literature, etc., characteristic of its historical period; a work which is now of interest primarily for its evocation of the historical period to which it belongs; a work produced in an old-fashioned or archaic style so as to evoke a particular historical period.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > the arts in general > [noun] > work of art
thingOE
virtuosity1848
oeuvre1889
opus1895
period piece1909
the world > time > relative time > the past > oldness or ancientness > [noun] > object from the past or antique
antique1530
relic1605
relict1646
venerable1803
morceau de musée1896
period piece1909
1909 Los Angeles Times 18 Apr. iii. 9/5 [O]ur entire stock..embracing all our choicest Colonial and other period pieces.
1921 Times 13 Jan. 2/7 (advt.) Very fine genuine Chippendale glass-fronted book-case; perfect condition; period piece.
1943 H. Pearson Conan Doyle v. 81 Nowadays we can see that the facile saga of Sherlock Holmes is far more valuable even as a ‘period piece’ than the diligent epic of Edward the Third.
2002 N.Y. Times Mag. 12 May 20/1 The director shot his latest film, a period piece about the French Revolution, entirely on digital video.
period poverty n. the condition of being unable to afford or obtain adequate sanitary protection for use during menstruation.
ΚΠ
2015 @thistleyroses 2 Aug. in twitter.com (accessed 26 Mar. 2021) [In response to Please help Rutherglen WFI raise money to put sanitary products into local foodbanks.] Please help end ‘Period Poverty’ .
2016 Guardian (Nexis) 27 Sept. Tampons and other sanitary products should be given free to women receiving working age benefits, according to the Trussell Trust Scotland, as ‘period poverty’ was debated for the first time in the Holyrood chamber.
2021 Herald-Times (Bloomington, Indiana) 8 Feb. a8/2 TDP is a student-driven organization that secures and distributes hygiene products to local shelters. Its current focus is on alleviating period poverty.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2005; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
periodv.
/ˈpɪərɪəd/, U.S. /ˈpɪriəd/ 1. transitive. To bring to an end; to terminate. Cf. period n. 11. Now rare.Apparently revived by W. H. Auden from dictionary record.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > ceasing > cease from (an action or operation) [verb (transitive)] > cause to cease or put a stop to
astintc700
stathea1200
atstuntc1220
to put an end toa1300
to set end ofa1300
batec1300
stanch1338
stinta1350
to put awayc1350
arrestc1374
finisha1375
terminec1390
achievea1393
cease1393
removec1405
terminate?a1425
stop1426
surceasec1435
resta1450
discontinue1474
adetermine1483
blina1500
stay1525
abrogatea1529
suppressa1538
to set in or at stay1538
to make stay of1572
depart1579
check1581
intercept1581
to give a stop toa1586
dirempt1587
date1589
period1595
astayc1600
nip1600
to break off1607
snape1631
sist1635
to make (a) stop of1638
supersede1643
assopiatea1649
periodizea1657
unbusya1657
to put a stop to1679
to give the holla to1681
to run down1697
cessate1701
end1737
to choke off1818
stopper1821
punctuate1825
to put a stopper on1828
to take off ——1845
still1850
to put the lid on1873
on the fritz1900
to close down1903
to put the fritz on something1910
to put the bee on1918
switch1921
to blow the whistle on1934
the world > relative properties > order > order, sequence, or succession > end or conclusion > bring to an end or conclude [verb (transitive)]
yendc1000
abatec1300
finec1300
endc1305
finisha1375
definec1384
terminec1390
achievea1393
out-enda1400
terminate?a1425
conclude1430
close1439
to bring adowna1450
terma1475
adetermine1483
determine1483
to knit up1530
do1549
parclose1558
to shut up1575
expire1578
date1589
to close up1592
period1595
includea1616
apostrophate1622
to wind off1650
periodizea1657
dismiss1698
to wind up1740
to put the lid on1873
to put the tin hat on something1900
to wash up1925
1595 W. Covell Polimanteia sig. R3v I am loath to bee too long in my aduisements to you,..and therefore heere I period them.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Timon of Athens (1623) i. i. 101 Your..Letter he desires To those haue shut him vp, which failing, Periods his comfort. View more context for this quotation
1668 J. Howe Blessednesse of Righteous 416 It will calmly period all thy troubles.
1688 J. Barnes Hist. Edward III iv. ii. 717 We may be bold to period the Happiness of King Edward's Wonderfull Reign; For We shall find, that..From this time the swelling Tide of Prosperity was found to Ebb apace.
1755 S. Johnson Dict. Eng. Lang. To period, to put an end to. A bad word.
1969 W. H. Auden Moon Landing in New Yorker 6 Sept. 38/2 A grand gesture. But what does it period? What does it osse?
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > order > order, sequence, or succession > end or conclusion > be at an end [verb (intransitive)] > make an end, finish up, or conclude
have done!c1300
conclude1526
dispatcha1616
period1628
finale1797
to wind up1825
to wind (up) one's pirna1835
to top off1836
finish1878
finalize1922
to drop the flag1925
1628 O. Felltham Resolves: 2nd Cent. lxi. 175 You may period upon this; That where there is the most pitty from others, there is the greatest miserie in the partie pittied.
1656 S. Hunton Golden Law 88 Here then I period.
Derivatives
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > completing > [noun] > bringing to a conclusion
endingc1000
determination1483
lapping1549
winding up1560
closure1594
perioding1659
clausure1670
close out1887
the world > relative properties > order > order, sequence, or succession > end or conclusion > [noun] > coming or bringing to an end > bringing to an end
termininga1425
termination1514
lapping1549
closing1580
closure1594
solution1655
perioding1659
clausure1670
1659 J. Rushworth Hist. Coll. 39 This Parliament..to continue for the Enacting of Laws, and Perioding of things of Reformation, as long as the necessity of the State shall require the same.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2005; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
<
n.adj.adv.?a1425
v.1595- anti-unionism
- anti-usurious
- anti-vaccination
- anti-vaccinationist
- anti-vaccinator
- anti-vaccine
- anti-vaccinist
- anti-vax
- anti-vaxer
- anti-vaxers
- anti-vaxxer
- anti-vaxxers
- anti-vehicle
- anti-venefic
- anti-vibration
- anti-vice
- anti-vivisection
- anti-vivisectionism
- anti-vivisectionist
- anti-wagnerian
- anti-wagnerism
- anti-war
- anti-warlike
- anti-white
- anti-wit