Period Meaning
/ˈpɪə.ɹi.əd/Definition, CEFR level A1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA length of time.
nounA length of time in history seen as a single coherent entity; an epoch, era.
Sentence Examples
The students' lunch period is from twelve to one.
We have English third period.
The period of validity of the agreement has expired.
CEFR Practice Quiz
A school term is a ____ of study lasting about three months.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The Renaissance was a remarkable ____ in European history marked by art, science, and exploration.
Word Origin & History
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”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Philip Miles, defending, said: "This was a single instance, there was no allegation of continuing behaviour over a long period of time.""
— 2011 December 14, Steven Morris, “Devon woman jailed for 168 days for killing kitten in microwave”, in Guardian:
"With some of it on the south and more of it on the north of the great main thoroughfare that connects Aldgate and the East India Docks, St. Bede's at this period of its history was perhaps the poorest and most miserable parish in the East End of London."
— 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter VII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
"Sung Yung-hsi of Ch’u-hsiung was a government student during the Chia-ch’ing period."
— 1962, Chung-li Chang, The Income of the Chinese Gentry, Seattle: University of Washington Press, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 235:
"‘You know, a period? The black spot at the end of a sentence — what do you call them over there?’"
— 2002, Zadie Smith, The Autograph Man, Penguin Books (2003), page 299:
"My sufferings, physical and mental, are more than I can bear, and when such small arrangements as I have to make for your future well-being are completed it is my intention to put a period to them."
— 1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:
Explore More A1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
A school term is a ____ of study lasting about three months.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The Renaissance was a remarkable ____ in European history marked by art, science, and exploration.