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periodic

   Also found in: Medical, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.02 sec.
pe·ri·od·ic  (pîr-dk)
adj.
1. Having or marked by repeated cycles.
2. Happening or appearing at regular intervals.
3. Recurring or reappearing from time to time; intermittent.
4. Characterized by periodic sentences.

peri·odi·cal·ly adv.
Synonyms: periodic, sporadic, intermittent, occasional, fitful
These adjectives all mean recurring or reappearing now and then. Something periodic occurs at regular or at least generally predictable intervals: periodic feelings of anxiety.
Sporadic implies scattered, irregular, unpredictable, or isolated instances: sporadic bombing raids.
Intermittent describes something that stops and starts at intervals: intermittent rain showers.
What is occasional happens at random and irregularly: occasional outbursts of temper.
Something fitful occurs in spells and often abruptly: fitful bursts of energy.
Usage Note: In technical use, periodic means "at regular or predictable intervals," as in the Periodic Table of the Elements. Often, however, periodic is used to mean "occasional, intermittent." This usage can be confusing for readers who are accustomed to the narrower sense of the word. Thus the writer who says Parker's losses at the track were not covered by his periodic wins invites the (most likely unintended) inference that Parker has a system that enables him to win at regular intervals. The ambiguity can be avoided here by using occasional instead.

periodic
Adjective
recurring at intervals
periodically adv
periodicity n
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Adj.1.periodic - happening or recurring at regular intervals; "the periodic appearance of the seventeen-year locust"
aperiodic, nonperiodic - not recurring at regular intervals
2.periodic - recurring or reappearing from time to time; "periodic feelings of anxiety"
sporadic - recurring in scattered and irregular or unpredictable instances; "a city subjected to sporadic bombing raids"

periodic
Translations
periodic [pɪərɪˈɔdɪk] adjperiódico
periodic [pɪərɪˈɔdɪk] adjpériodique
periodic [pɪərɪˈɔdɪk] period adjperiodisch
periodic [pɪərɪˈɔdɪk] adjperiodico/a


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? Mentioned in ? References in classic literature
 
The periodic disappearance of their arrows, and the strange pranks perpetrated by unseen hands, had wrought them to such a state that life had become a veritable burden in their new home, and now it was that Mbonga and his head men began to talk of abandoning the village and seeking a site farther on in the jungle.
Here was the element that his splendid but solitary periodic feasts had lacked.
When first he came upon them they were moving slowly but steadily southward in one of those periodic migrations the reasons for which the baboon himself is best able to explain.
 
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