period.
A length of time.
Meaning & usage
A length of time.
There was a period of confusion following the announcement.
You'll be on probation for a six-month period.
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).
A decisive end to something; a stop.
The length of time during which the same characteristics of a periodic phenomenon recur, such as the repetition of a wave or the rotation of a planet.
Female menstruation; an episode of this.
When she is on her period, she prefers not to go swimming.
Female menstruation; an episode of this. The set of symptoms associated with menstruation, even if not accompanied by menstruation; an episode of these symptoms.
A section of an artist's, writer's (etc.) career distinguished by a given quality, preoccupation etc.
This is one of the last paintings Picasso created during his Blue Period.
Each of the divisions into which a school day is split, allocated to a given subject or activity.
I have math class in second period.
Each of the intervals, typically three, of which a game is divided.
Gretzky scored in the last minute of the second period.
One or more additional intervals to decide a tied game, an overtime period.
They won in the first overtime period.
The length of time for a disease to run its course.
An end or conclusion; the final point of a process, a state, an event, etc.
A complete sentence, especially one expressing a single thought or making a balanced, rhythmic whole.
A specific moment during a given process; a point, a stage.
A row in the periodic table of the elements.
A geochronologic unit of millions to tens of millions of years; a subdivision of an era, and subdivided into epochs.
These fossils are from the Jurassic period.
A Drosophila gene, the gene product of which is involved in regulation of the circadian rhythm.
Two phrases (an antecedent and a consequent phrase).
The length of an interval over which a periodic function, periodic sequence or repeating decimal repeats; often the least such length.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *per-der. Ancient Greek περῐ́ (perĭ́) Proto-Indo-European *sed-der. Proto-Indo-European *sodós? Proto-Hellenic *hodós Ancient Greek ὁδός (hodós) Ancient Greek περῐ́οδος (perĭ́odos)lbor. Medieval Latin periodusbor. Middle French periodebor. Middle English periode English period 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”).
Designating anything from a given historical era.
Evoking, or appropriate for, a particular historical period, especially through the use of elaborate costumes and scenery.
a period piece
Menstrual.
period pains
period blood
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *per-der. Ancient Greek περῐ́ (perĭ́) Proto-Indo-European *sed-der. Proto-Indo-European *sodós? Proto-Hellenic *hodós Ancient Greek ὁδός (hodós) Ancient Greek περῐ́οδος (perĭ́odos)lbor. Medieval Latin periodusbor. Middle French periodebor. Middle English periode English period 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”).
That's final; that's the end of the matter (analogous to a period ending a sentence); end of story.
I know you don't want to go to the dentist, but your teeth need to be checked, period!
I'm the GOAT, point blank period!
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *per-der. Ancient Greek περῐ́ (perĭ́) Proto-Indo-European *sed-der. Proto-Indo-European *sodós? Proto-Hellenic *hodós Ancient Greek ὁδός (hodós) Ancient Greek περῐ́οδος (perĭ́odos)lbor. Medieval Latin periodusbor. Middle French periodebor. Middle English periode English period 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”).
To come to a period; to conclude.
To put an end to.
To menstruate; to excrete menstrual blood.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *per-der. Ancient Greek περῐ́ (perĭ́) Proto-Indo-European *sed-der. Proto-Indo-European *sodós? Proto-Hellenic *hodós Ancient Greek ὁδός (hodós) Ancient Greek περῐ́οδος (perĭ́odos)lbor. Medieval Latin periodusbor. Middle French periodebor. Middle English periode English period 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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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.