periodical

Etymology

It is formed from English periodic + -al,^[2][3] though the OED, which records it before periodic itself, takes it as Latin periodicus with the English suffix,^[4][5] and compares Medieval Latin periodicalis (“recurring at regular intervals”), recorded before 1350 in a British source.^[4] The Latin adjective is from Ancient Greek περιοδικός (periodikós, “coming round at intervals”), from περίοδος (períodos, “cycle, circuit”),^[6][5][2] the source of period.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Recurring at regular intervals: 1585, in J. Banister's Wecker's Compendious Chyrurgerie.^[4][5] Dictionary.com gives 1595–1605 and Etymonline about 1600.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

In 1601 Holland used it for what recurs intermittently, and in 1603 for the motion of celestial bodies, a use now rare.^[4] Johnson (1755) defined it with circuits and revolutions as well as with actions at stated times.^[7] From 1683 it could also describe a style built on rhetorical periods.^[4] In 1716 Addison applied it to a publication issued at regular intervals.^[4][8] The noun for such a magazine followed in 1798,^[4][2][5] and is defined by regularly recurring issues, usually weekly, monthly or quarterly.^[4] Americans used the noun in the late 19th century for bouts of drinking,^[4][9] a use now rare.^[4]

Timeline

• 1585 – recurring at regular intervals.^[4][5]
• 1601 – recurring intermittently; occasional.^[4]
• 1603 – in astronomy, of periodic motion.^[4]
• 1683 – of a style, characterized by rhetorical periods.^[4]
• 1716 – of a magazine or journal, published at regular intervals.^[4]
• 1798 – noun, a magazine or journal issued at regular intervals.^[4][2][5]
• 1886 – noun, in American use, a habitual drinking bout.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A magazine or other publication issued at regular intervals, usually weekly, monthly or quarterly.^[10][5][4]
2. (US colloquial, now rare) A drinking bout.^[4][9]

Adjective

1. Published at regular intervals: a periodical review of the arts.^[10][5][4]
2. Of, relating to or published in such publications: the periodical room of the library.^[10][5]
3. Recurring at regular intervals, or from time to time; periodic or occasional: periodical visits from the nurse.^[10][5][4]

Word family

• periodicalism
• periodicalist
• periodicalness
• nonperiodical
• unperiodical
• periodical cicada

Related words

• period
• periodic

Usage notes

Merriam-Webster says the noun is usually used of a publication appearing more often than once a year and seldom of a newspaper,^[5] and the Shorter Oxford gives intervals longer than a day and shorter than a year, though it adds that the word can also cover a newspaper.^[8] The periodical cicada is the seventeen-year cicada.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
8. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
10. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins