Etymologically
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periodic

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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˌpɪɹiˈɒdɪk/, /ˌpɪə-/[1]
  • US: /ˌpɪɹiˈɑdɪk/[1]

Etymology

It is partly borrowed from French périodique and partly borrowed from Latin periodicus (“intermittent”),[2][3][4] from Ancient Greek περιοδικός (periodikós, “recurring, intermittent”),[2][3] from περίοδος (períodos, “circuit, cycle, period”) and the suffix -ικός (-ikós).[2][3] The Greek noun is formed from περι- (peri-, “around”) and ὁδός (hodós, “way”), and is the source of period.[5] In Middle French the adjective was used of recurring symptoms from the 15th century, of the motion of a celestial body from 1634, of a style using rhetorical periods from 1671 and of magazines from 1721;[2] in Latin it is first recorded in Pliny, of fevers.[2] Etymonline calls the Latin form Late Latin.[5] The English word periodical is older.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of or relating to the recurring motion of a celestial body in its orbit: 1650, in J. Howell's Instructions for Forreine Travell.[2][4] Etymonline dates the sense "proceeding in a series of successive revolutions" to the 1640s,[5] and Merriam-Webster gives 1650.[3]

Semantic evolution

From the cycles of the heavens the word passed to medicine, of symptoms that recur at regular intervals (1661),[2] and then to anything recurring regularly, or more loosely from time to time (1750 in the OED, the 1660s in Etymonline).[2][5] In 1701 it was also used of a style built on rhetorical periods, elevated and formal.[2][6] The 19th century brought scientific senses: a periodic function in mathematics (1820), physical phenomena that repeat in time or space (1836), and in chemistry the regular recurrence of the properties of the elements (1872, in periodic law).[2][5] The periodic table (1889) is so called because elements with similar properties recur at intervals in the table.[5][4] From 1884 it could also mean "relating to a particular period of history".[2]

Timeline

  • 1640s – proceeding in successive revolutions, in Etymonline.[5]
  • 1650 – of the recurring motion of a celestial body.[2][3]
  • 1661 – in medicine, of regularly recurring symptoms.[2]
  • 1701 – of style, using rhetorical periods.[2]
  • 1750 – recurring at regular intervals, or intermittently.[2]
  • 1820 – in mathematics, of a periodic function.[2]
  • 1836 – in physics, regularly repeating in time or space.[2]
  • 1872 – in chemistry, periodic law.[2][5]
  • 1884 – relating to a particular period of history.[2]
  • 1889 – periodic table.[5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Happening at regular intervals: periodic checks on the boiler.[7][3][2]
  2. Happening from time to time; recurrent or intermittent: The district suffers periodic floods.[3][7][2]
  3. Made up of a series of stages repeated regularly; cyclic.[3][7]
  4. (chemistry) Relating to the periodic table or to the regular recurrence of the properties of the elements.[6][2][4]
  5. (mathematics) Of a function, returning to the same value at constant intervals.[2][4]
  6. (physics) Varying so that the same state is regularly repeated in time or space.[2]
  7. (astronomy) Relating to the revolution of a celestial body in its orbit.[2][4]
  8. Of style, written in rhetorical periods; formal and elaborate.[6][2]

Word family

  • periodically
  • antiperiodic
  • nonperiodic
  • quasiperiodic
  • thermoperiodic
  • unperiodic
  • aperiodic

Usage notes

In chemistry periodic (/ˌpəːrʌɪˈɒdɪk/) also names periodic acid, an oxoacid of iodine richer in oxygen than iodic acid; it is formed from per- and iodic and is recorded from 1836.[2][4]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b c Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins