PERIOD

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does period mean? 

• PERIOD (noun)
  The noun PERIOD has 7 senses:

1. an amount of time

2. the interval taken to complete one cycle of a regularly repeating phenomenon

3. (ice hockey) one of three divisions into which play is divided in hockey games

4. a unit of geological time during which a system of rocks formed

5. the end or completion of something

6. the monthly discharge of blood from the uterus of nonpregnant women from puberty to menopause

7. a punctuation mark (.) placed at the end of a declarative sentence to indicate a full stop or after abbreviations

  Familiarity information: PERIOD used as a noun is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PERIOD (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An amount of time

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Synonyms:

period; period of time; time period

Context example:

Picasso's blue period

Hypernyms ("period" is a kind of...):

fundamental measure; fundamental quantity (one of the four quantities that are the basis of systems of measurement)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "period"):

test period; trial period (a period of time during which someone or something is tested)

time frame (a time period during which something occurs or is expected to occur)

grace; grace period (a period of time past the deadline for fulfilling an obligation during which a penalty that would be imposed for being late is waived, especially an extended period granted as a special favor)

hours (an indefinite period of time)

downtime (a period of time when something (as a machine or factory) is not operating (especially as a result of malfunctions))

uptime (a period of time when something (as a machine or factory) is functioning and available for use)

work time (a time period when you are required to work)

time off (a time period when you are not required to work)

bout (a period of illness)

hospitalization (a period of time when you are confined to a hospital)

travel time (a period of time spent traveling)

times (a more or less definite period of time now or previously present)

time (an indefinite period (usually marked by specific attributes or activities))

elapsed time (the time that elapses while some event is occurring)

continuance; duration (the period of time during which something continues)

calendar week; week (a period of seven consecutive days starting on Sunday)

midweek (the middle of a week)

field day (a time of unusual pleasure and success)

life; life-time; lifespan; lifetime (the period during which something is functional (as between birth and death))

life (the period between birth and the present time)

life (the period from the present until death)

millenary; millennium (a span of 1000 years)

bimillenary; bimillennium (a span of 2000 years)

occupation (the period of time during which a place or position or nation is occupied)

past (a earlier period in someone's life (especially one that they have reason to keep secret))

shelf life (the length of time a packaged food or drug will last without deteriorating)

puerperium (time period following childbirth when the mother's uterus shrinks and the other functional and anatomic changes of pregnancy are resolved)

lactation (the period following birth during which milk is secreted)

time of life (a period of time during which a person is normally in a particular life state)

calendar day; civil day (a day reckoned from midnight to midnight)

festival (a day or period of time set aside for feasting and celebration)

day; daylight; daytime (the time after sunrise and before sunset while it is light outside)

forenoon; morn; morning; morning time (the time period between dawn and noon)

dark; night; nighttime (the time after sunset and before sunrise while it is dark outside)

night (the time between sunset and midnight)

night (the period spent sleeping)

night (a period of ignorance or backwardness or gloom)

eve (the period immediately before something)

evening (the early part of night (from dinner until bedtime) spent in a special way)

hebdomad; week (any period of seven consecutive days)

fortnight; two weeks (a period of fourteen consecutive days)

weekend (a time period usually extending from Friday night through Sunday; more loosely defined as any period of successive days including one and only one Sunday)

Indian summer; Saint Martin's summer (a period of unusually warm weather in the autumn)

year (the period of time that it takes for a planet (as, e.g., Earth or Mars) to make a complete revolution around the sun)

school; school day; schooltime (the period of instruction in a school; the time period when school is in session)

twelvemonth; year; yr (a period of time containing 365 (or 366) days)

year (a period of time occupying a regular part of a calendar year that is used for some particular activity)

semester (half a year; a period of 6 months)

bimester (a period of 2 months)

Olympiad (one of the four-year intervals between Olympic Games; used to reckon time in ancient Greece for twelve centuries beginning in 776 BC)

lustrum (a period of five years)

decade; decennary; decennium (a period of 10 years)

century (a period of 100 years)

quadrennium (a period of four years)

quinquennium (a period of five years)

half-century (a period of 50 years)

quarter-century (a period of 25 years)

quarter (a fourth part of a year; three months)

phase of the moon (a time when the Moon presents a particular recurring appearance)

day (the period of time taken by a particular planet (e.g. Mars) to make a complete rotation on its axis)

calendar month; month (one of the twelve divisions of the calendar year)

mid-January (the middle part of January)

mid-February (the middle part of February)

mid-March (the middle part of March)

mid-April (the middle part of April)

mid-May (the middle part of May)

mid-June (the middle part of June)

mid-July (the middle part of July)

mid-August (the middle part of August)

mid-September (the middle part of September)

mid-October (the middle part of October)

mid-November (the middle part of November)

mid-December (the middle part of December)

time limit (a time period within which something must be done or completed)

term (a limited period of time)

trimester (a period of three months; especially one of the three three-month periods into which human pregnancy is divided)

hour (a special and memorable period)

silly season (a time usually late summer characterized by exaggerated news stories about frivolous matters for want of real news)

Golden Age ((classical mythology) the first and best age of the world, a time of ideal happiness, prosperity, and innocence; by extension, any flourishing and outstanding period)

silver age ((classical mythology) the second age of the world, characterized by opulence and irreligion; by extension, a period secondary in achievement to a golden age)

bronze age ((classical mythology) the third age of the world, marked by war and violence)

iron age ((classical mythology) the last and worst age of the world)

great year; Platonic year (time required for one complete cycle of the precession of the equinoxes, about 25,800 years)

regulation time ((sports) the normal prescribed duration of a game)

extra time; overtime (playing time beyond regulation, to break a tie)

season; time of year (one of the natural periods into which the year is divided by the equinoxes and solstices or atmospheric conditions)

canicular days; canicule; dog days (the hot period between early July and early September; a period of inactivity)

midwinter (the middle of winter)

season (a recurrent time marked by major holidays)

season (a period of the year marked by special events or activities in some field)

age; long time; years (a prolonged period of time)

long haul; long run (a period of time sufficient for factors to work themselves out)

drought; drouth (a prolonged shortage)

epoch; era (a period marked by distinctive character or reckoned from a fixed point or event)

generation (the normal time between successive generations)

prehistoric culture; prehistory (the time during the development of human culture before the appearance of the written word)

reign (a period during which something or somebody is dominant or powerful)

run (the continuous period of time during which something (a machine or a factory) operates or continues in operation)

early days; youth (an early period of development)

dawn (an opening time period)

evening (a later concluding time period)

time (a period of time considered as a resource under your control and sufficient to accomplish something)

nap; sleep (a period of time spent sleeping)

lease; term of a contract (the period of time during which a contract conveying property to a person is in effect)

half-life; half life (the time required for something to fall to half its initial value (in particular, the time for half the atoms in a radioactive substance to disintegrate))

lunar time period; tide (there are usually two high and two low tides each day)

phase; stage (any distinct time period in a sequence of events)

multistage (occurring in more than one stage)

watch (the period during which someone (especially a guard) is on duty)

peacetime (a period of time during which there is no war)

wartime (a period of time during which there is armed conflict)

duty tour; enlistment; hitch; term of enlistment; tour; tour of duty (a period of time spent in military service)

honeymoon (the early (usually calm and harmonious) period of a relationship; business or political)

indiction (a 15-year cycle used as a chronological unit in ancient Rome and adopted in some medieval kingdoms)

prohibition; prohibition era (the period from 1920 to 1933 when the sale of alcoholic beverages was prohibited in the United States by a constitutional amendment)

incubation period (the period between infection and the appearance of symptoms of the disease)

rainy day (a (future) time of financial need)

noviciate; novitiate (the period during which you are a novice (especially in a religious order))

bloom; blossom; efflorescence; flower; flush; heyday; peak; prime (the period of greatest prosperity or productivity)

running time (the length of time that a movie or tv show runs)

clotting time (the time it takes for a sample of blood to clot; used to diagnose some clotting disorders)

air alert (the time period during which military and civilian agencies are prepared for an enemy air attack)

question time (a period during a parliamentary session when members of British Parliament may ask questions of the ministers)

real time ((computer science) the time it takes for a process under computer control to occur)

real time (the actual time that it takes a process to occur)

study hall (a period of time during the school day that is set aside for study)

usance (the period of time permitted by commercial usage for the payment of a bill of exchange (especially a foreign bill of exchange))

window (the time period that is considered best for starting or finishing something)

Instance hyponyms:

Bronze Age ((archeology) a period between the Stone and Iron Ages, characterized by the manufacture and use of bronze tools and weapons)

Iron Age ((archeology) the period following the Bronze Age; characterized by rapid spread of iron tools and weapons)

Stone Age ((archeology) the earliest known period of human culture, characterized by the use of stone implements)

Eolithic; Eolithic Age (the earliest part of the Stone Age marked by the earliest signs of human culture)

Palaeolithic; Paleolithic; Paleolithic Age (second part of the Stone Age beginning about 750,000 to 500,000 years BC and lasting until the end of the last ice age about 8,500 years BC)

Lower Paleolithic (the oldest part of the Paleolithic Age with the emergence of the hand ax; ended about 120,000 years ago)

Middle Paleolithic (the time period of Neanderthal man; ended about 35,000 years BC)

Upper Paleolithic (the time period during which only modern Homo sapiens was known to have existed; ended about 10,000 years BC)

Epipaleolithic; Mesolithic; Mesolithic Age (middle part of the Stone Age beginning about 15,000 years ago)

Neolithic; Neolithic Age; New Stone Age (latest part of the Stone Age beginning about 10,000 BC in the Middle East (but later elsewhere))

Great Schism (the period from 1378 to 1417 during which there were two papacies in the Roman Catholic Church, one in Rome and one in Avignon)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The interval taken to complete one cycle of a regularly repeating phenomenon

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Hypernyms ("period" is a kind of...):

interval; time interval (a definite length of time marked off by two instants)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "period"):

orbit period (the time it takes to complete one full orbit around a celestial body)

Derivation:

periodical (happening or recurring at regular intervals)

Sense 3

Meaning:

(ice hockey) one of three divisions into which play is divided in hockey games

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Hypernyms ("period" is a kind of...):

division; part; section (one of the portions into which something is regarded as divided and which together constitute a whole)

Domain category:

hockey; hockey game; ice hockey (a game played on an ice rink by two opposing teams of six skaters each who try to knock a flat round puck into the opponents' goal with angled hockey sticks)

Holonyms ("period" is a part of...):

period of play; play; playing period ((in games or plays or other performances) the time during which play proceeds)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A unit of geological time during which a system of rocks formed

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Synonyms:

geological period; period

Context example:

ganoid fishes swarmed during the earlier geological periods

Hypernyms ("period" is a kind of...):

geologic time; geological time (the time of the physical formation and development of the earth (especially prior to human history))

Meronyms (parts of "period"):

epoch (a unit of geological time that is a subdivision of a period and is itself divided into ages)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "period"):

glacial epoch; glacial period; ice age (any period of time during which glaciers covered a large part of the earth's surface)

Instance hyponyms:

Age of Man; Quaternary; Quaternary period (last 2 million years)

Tertiary; Tertiary period (from 63 million to 2 million years ago)

Cretaceous; Cretaceous period (from 135 million to 63 million years ago; end of the age of reptiles; appearance of modern insects and flowering plants)

Jurassic; Jurassic period (from 190 million to 135 million years ago; dinosaurs; conifers)

Triassic; Triassic period (from 230 million to 190 million years ago; dinosaurs, marine reptiles; volcanic activity)

Permian; Permian period (from 280 million to 230 million years ago; reptiles)

Carboniferous; Carboniferous period (from 345 million to 280 million years ago)

Pennsylvanian; Pennsylvanian period; Upper Carboniferous; Upper Carboniferous period (from 310 million to 280 million years ago; warm climate; swampy land)

Lower Carboniferous; Lower Carboniferous period; Missippian period; Mississippian (from 345 million to 310 million years ago; increase of land areas; primitive ammonites; winged insects)

Age of Fishes; Devonian; Devonian period (from 405 million to 345 million years ago; preponderance of fishes and appearance of amphibians and ammonites)

Silurian; Silurian period (from 425 million to 405 million years ago; first air-breathing animals)

Ordovician; Ordovician period (from 500 million to 425 million years ago; conodonts and ostracods and algae and seaweeds)

Cambrian; Cambrian period (from 544 million to about 500 million years ago; marine invertebrates)

Holonyms ("period" is a part of...):

era; geological era (a major division of geological time; an era is usually divided into two or more periods)

Sense 5

Meaning:

The end or completion of something

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Context example:

a change soon put a period to my tranquility

Hypernyms ("period" is a kind of...):

end; ending (the point in time at which something ends)

Domain usage:

figure; figure of speech; image; trope (language used in a figurative or nonliteral sense)

Sense 6

Meaning:

The monthly discharge of blood from the uterus of nonpregnant women from puberty to menopause

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural processes

Synonyms:

catamenia; flow; menses; menstruation; menstruum; period

Context example:

the semen begins to appear in males and to be emitted at the same time of life that the catamenia begin to flow in females

Hypernyms ("period" is a kind of...):

discharge; emission; expelling (any of several bodily processes by which substances go out of the body)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "period"):

hypermenorrhea; menorrhagia (abnormally heavy or prolonged menstruation; can be a symptom of uterine tumors and can lead to anemia if prolonged)

oligomenorrhea (abnormally light or infrequent menstruation)

Sense 7

Meaning:

A punctuation mark (.) placed at the end of a declarative sentence to indicate a full stop or after abbreviations

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

full point; full stop; period; point; stop

Context example:

in England they call a period a stop

Hypernyms ("period" is a kind of...):

punctuation; punctuation mark (the marks used to clarify meaning by indicating separation of words into sentences and clauses and phrases)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "period"):

suspension point ((usually plural) one of a series of points indicating that something has been omitted or that the sentence is incomplete)

 Context examples 

If all brothers were treated as well as Laurie was at this period, they would be a much happier race of beings than they are.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Everybody is taken in at some period or other.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

The time period between the beginning of puberty and adulthood.

(Adolescence, NCI Thesaurus)

The period of time over which the event or activity actually occurs.

(Actual Duration, NCI Thesaurus)

During these periods, it’s not wise to make binding agreements.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

A coded value specifying when this adverse event ended with respect to the sponsor-defined reference period.

(Adverse Event End Relative To Reference Code, NCI Thesaurus)

A period had been reached, and he was rounding it off in workman-like fashion.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

This he filled with the same oil as that used at the vicarage, and he carefully timed the period which it would take to be exhausted.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

During this period of his development he never knew a moment's security.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

— When had he succeeded to that place in her affection, which Frank Churchill had once, for a short period, occupied?

(Emma, by Jane Austen)