periodo

Forms

periodo m (plural periodi)^[1]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin periodus (“a rounded sentence; a cycle”), from Ancient Greek περίοδος (períodos, “a going round, circuit, cycle”).^[2][3][4][1] The Greek noun is a compound of περί (perí, “around”) and ὁδός (hodós, “way, road”).^[2][3][1][5] DELI cites the view that the prefix here means “wandering” more than “round”.^[2] DEI also names French période, recorded from the 14th century, beside the Latin word.^[6] The same learned word is Spanish período.^[3]

The derivative periodico is Latin periodicus, from περιοδικός (periodikós), and “periodicità” may be French “périodicité” (1665).^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is Francesco da Buti's commentary on the Purgatorio (1385–1395, Pisan), in two senses: the closing stage of a human life, and the punctuation mark that ends a sentence.^[7] DELI's earliest dated sense is the sentence, in Matteo Bandello in 1554;^[2][3][8] Nocentini dates it to before 1525 and DELI rejects an earlier record attributed to Giordano da Pisa.^[2][3][8]

Semantic evolution

The sense of a stretch of time took longer to settle: Giordano Bruno used the word for the circuit of a star in its orbit (before 1600), and it named a stage of an illness in 1644.^[2] DELI's first record for an interval of time marked by particular events is Giovanni Battista Rocchi in 1651;^[2][4][3][8] GRADIT gives 1603, and Nocentini and Devoto–Oli put this sense in the 18th century.^[2][4][3][8] Old Italian also had a feminine plural le periodi.^[9]

Specialist senses followed: in music a group of phrases with a complete sense (1765), in geology a subdivision of an era (1879), in physics the time of a full cycle (1958) and in mathematics the repeating digits of a decimal (1965).^[2] In chemistry each row of the periodic table is a periodo.^[10][11] The phrase andare a periodi means to be changeable.^[8][10]

Timeline

• 1350 – The adjective periodico is recorded in Pietro de' Crescenzi.^[2]
• 1385–1395 – Francesco da Buti uses periodo.^[7]
• 1554 – Matteo Bandello uses it for a sentence.^[2]
• Before 1600 – Giordano Bruno uses it for the circuit of a star.^[2]
• 1644 – It names a stage of an illness.^[2]
• 1651 – It is used for an interval of time.^[2]
• 1765 – The musical sense is recorded.^[2]
• 1879 – Angelo Secchi uses it for a geological period.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A period or span of time: Ho lavorato a Torino per un periodo di sei mesi.^[4][8][12]
2. A phase of life marked by particular conditions: Sta attraversando un periodo difficile.^[4][8][12]
3. A historical epoch, or a phase in an artist's work: il periodo napoleonico.^[4][8][13]
4. (grammar) A sentence of two or more clauses with a complete sense.^[4][10]
5. (geology) A subdivision of an era: il Giurassico è un periodo del Mesozoico.^[4][12][10]
6. (music) A group of musical phrases forming a complete unit.^[4][10]
7. (physics) The time after which a periodic phenomenon repeats itself.^[4][12][13]
8. (astronomy) The time a body takes to complete a rotation or an orbit.^[4][12][13]
9. (chemistry) A row of the periodic table.^[10][11][1]
10. (mathematics) The group of digits that repeats in a recurring decimal.^[12][10]
11. (medicine) A stage of an illness or a physiological process: il periodo di incubazione.^[12][10]

Word family

• periodare
• periodico
• periodicità
• periodizzare
• periodizzazione
• periodicista
• semiperiodo
• sottoperiodo

Related words

• periodicamente
• Latin periodus
• French période

Usage notes

In grammar periodo ipotetico is the conditional sentence, and analisi del periodo the analysis of a sentence into its clauses.^[4][10] In economics breve periodo and lungo periodo are the short and the long run.^[13][8]

References

1. ^ a b c d e 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 Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 326
6. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2855
7. ^ a b Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
9. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 13, 38
10. ^ a b c d e f g h i Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
11. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
12. ^ a b c d e f g Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
13. ^ a b c d Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana