period

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A length of time.

   There was a long period of silence after the announcement.

2. 2
   noun

   A particular stage in history or in someone's life.

   Food was rationed during the post-war period.

3. 3
   noun

   The punctuation mark (.) used at the end of a sentence; a full stop.

   Don't forget to put a period at the end of the sentence.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Period comes from Greek periodos, “orbit, recurrence, course,” formed from peri-, “around,” and hodos, “way.” It first referred to the time in which something such as a disease ran its course; “portion of time” appeared in the early 16th century, and the punctuation sense “full stop” in the late 16th century.

From Middle English periode, from Middle French periode, from Medieval Latin periodus, from Ancient Greek περίοδος (períodos, “circuit, orbit, a recurring interval of time, path around”), from περι- (peri-, “around”) + ὁδός (hodós, “way”). Displaced native Middle English tide (“interval, period, season”), from Old English tīd (“time, period, season”), as well as Middle English elde (“age, period”), from Old English ieldu (“age, period of time”).

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External links

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