Added 5 October 2026
period
/ˈpɪə.ɹi.əd/ noun
In Latin: aetas Wiktionary
noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about period at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
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A length of time. .mw-parser-output .defdate{font-size:smaller}
There was a period of confusion following the announcement.
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A length of time in history seen as a single coherent entity; an epoch, era.
Food rationing continued in the post-war period.
- The punctuation mark “.” (indicating the ending of a sentence or marking an abbreviation).
adjective
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Designating anything from a given historical era.
a period car
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Evoking, or appropriate for, a particular historical period, especially through the use of elaborate costumes and scenery.
a period piece
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Menstrual.
period pains
interjection
verb
Origin
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”).
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)