period-rotation
Dictionary.com Unabridged

pe·ri·od

[peer-ee-uhd]
noun
1.
a rather large interval of time that is meaningful in the life of a person, in history, etc., because of its particular characteristics: a period of illness; a period of great profitability for a company; a period of social unrest in Germany.
2.
any specified division or portion of time: poetry of the period from 1603 to 1660.
3.
a round of time or series of years by which time is measured.
4.
a round of time marked by the recurrence of some phenomenon or occupied by some recurring process or action.
5.
the point of completion of a round of time or of the time during which something lasts or happens.
6.
Education. a specific length of time during school hours that a student spends in a classroom, laboratory, etc., or has free.
7.
any of the parts of equal length into which a game is divided.
8.
the time during which something runs its course.
9.
the present time.
10.
the point or character (.) used to mark the end of a declarative sentence, indicate an abbreviation, etc.; full stop.
11.
a full pause, as is made at the end of a complete sentence; full stop.
12.
a sentence, especially a well-balanced, impressive sentence: the stately periods of Churchill.
13.
a periodic sentence.
14.
an occurrence of menstruation.
15.
a time of the month during which menstruation occurs.
16.
Geology. the basic unit of geologic time, during which a standard rock system is formed: comprising two or more epochs and included with other periods in an era. See table under geologic time.
17.
Physics. the duration of one complete cycle of a wave or oscillation; the reciprocal of the frequency.
18.
Music. a division of a composition, usually a passage of eight or sixteen measures, complete or satisfactory in itself, commonly consisting of two or more contrasted or complementary phrases ending with a conclusive cadence; sentence ( def 3 ).
19.
Astronomy.
a.
Also called period of rotation. the time in which a body rotates once on its axis.
b.
Also called period of revolution. the time in which a planet or satellite revolves once about its primary.
20.
Mathematics, See under periodic ( def 5 ).
21.
Classical Prosody. a group of two or more cola.
adjective
22.
noting, pertaining to, evocative of, imitating, or representing a historical period or the styles current during a specific period of history: period costumes; a period play.
interjection
23.
(used by a speaker or writer to indicate that a decision is irrevocable or that a point is no longer discussable): I forbid you to go, period.
Origin:
1375–1425; late Middle English periode (< Middle French) < Medieval Latin periodus, Latin < Greek períodos circuit, period of time, period in rhetoric, literally, way around. See peri-, -ode2

Related forms
sub·pe·ri·od, noun

Can be confused: interval, period.

Synonyms
1. See age. 2. term.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Period-rotation is always a great word to know.
So is doohickey. Does it mean:
an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.
a gadget; dingus; thingumbob.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
period (ˈpɪərɪəd) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
—n
1.  a portion of time of indefinable length: he spent a period away from home
2.  a.  a portion of time specified in some way: the Arthurian period; Picasso's blue period
 b.  (as modifier): period costume
3.  a nontechnical name for an occurrence of menstruation
4.  geology a unit of geological time during which a system of rocks is formed: the Jurassic period
5.  a division of time, esp of the academic day
6.  physics, maths
 a.  T the time taken to complete one cycle of a regularly recurring phenomenon; the reciprocal of frequency
 b.  an interval in which the values of a periodic function follow a certain pattern that is duplicated over successive intervals: sin x = sin (x + 2π), where 2π is the period
7.  astronomy
 a.  the time required by a body to make one complete rotation on its axis
 b.  the time interval between two successive maxima or minima of light variation of a variable star
8.  chem Compare group one of the horizontal rows of elements in the periodic table. Each period starts with an alkali metal and ends with a rare gas
9.  Also called: full stop the punctuation mark (.) used at the end of a sentence that is not a question or exclamation, after abbreviations, etc
10.  a complete sentence, esp a complex one with several clauses
11.  music Also called: sentence a passage or division of a piece of music, usually consisting of two or more contrasting or complementary musical phrases and ending on a cadence
12.  (in classical prosody) a unit consisting of two or more cola
13.  rare a completion or end
 
[C14 peryod, from Latin periodus, from Greek periodos circuit, from peri- + hodos way]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

period
1413, "course or extent of time," from M.L. periodus "recurring portion, cycle," from L. periodus "a complete sentence," also "cycle of the Greek games," from Gk. periodos "rounded sentence, cycle, circuit, period of time," lit. "going around," from peri- "around" + hodos "a going, way, journey" (see
cede). Sense of "repeated cycle of events" led to that of "interval of time." Meaning "dot marking end of a sentence" first recorded 1609, from similar use in M.L. Sense of "menstruation" dates from 1822. Educational sense of "portion of time set apart for a lesson" is from 1876. Sporting sense attested from 1898.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Medical Dictionary

period pe·ri·od (pĭr'ē-əd)
n.

  1. An interval of time characterized by the occurrence of a certain condition, event, or phenomenon.

  2. One of the stages of a disease.

  3. A menstrual period.

  4. A sequence of elements arranged in order of increasing atomic number.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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American Heritage
Science Dictionary
period   (pĭr'ē-əd)  Pronunciation Key 

  1. A division of geologic time that is longer than an epoch and shorter than an era.

  2. The duration of one cycle of a regularly recurring action or event. See also cycle, frequency.

  3. An occurrence of menstruation.

  4. In the periodic table, any of the seven horizontal rows that contain elements arranged in order of increasing atomic number. All the elements in a particular period have the same number of electron shells in their atoms, equal to the number of the period. Thus, atoms of nickel, copper, and zinc, in period four, each have four electron shells. See Periodic Table.


The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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American Heritage
Cultural Dictionary

period definition


A punctuation mark (.) that ends a declarative sentence. A period is also used in abbreviations such as Mr. and Dr.

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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