PERIODICAL

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does periodical mean? 

• PERIODICAL (noun)
  The noun PERIODICAL has 1 sense:

1. a publication that appears at fixed intervals

  Familiarity information: PERIODICAL used as a noun is very rare.

• PERIODICAL (adjective)
  The adjective PERIODICAL has 1 sense:

1. happening or recurring at regular intervals

  Familiarity information: PERIODICAL used as an adjective is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PERIODICAL (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A publication that appears at fixed intervals

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("periodical" is a kind of...):

publication (a copy of a printed work offered for distribution)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "periodical"):

digest (a periodical that summarizes the news)

pictorial (a periodical (magazine or newspaper) containing many pictures)

serial; serial publication; series (a periodical that appears at scheduled times)

organ (a periodical that is published by a special interest group)

issue; number (one of a series published periodically)

journal (a periodical dedicated to a particular subject)

review (a periodical that publishes critical essays on current affairs or literature or art)

Derivation:

periodical (happening or recurring at regular intervals)

• PERIODICAL (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Happening or recurring at regular intervals

Synonyms:

periodic; periodical

Context example:

the periodic appearance of the seventeen-year locust

Similar:

midweekly (occurring during the middle of the week)

semestral; semestrial (occurring every six months or during every period of six months)

bimonthly; semimonthly (occurring twice a month)

bimestrial; bimonthly (occurring every two months)

monthly (of or occurring or payable every month)

triennial (occurring every third year or lasting 3 years)

biennial; biyearly (occurring every second year)

biannual; biyearly; half-yearly; semiannual (occurring or payable twice each year)

annual; yearly (occurring or payable every year)

biweekly; fortnightly (occurring every two weeks)

half-hourly (occurring ever half hour)

hourly (occurring every hour or payable by the hour)

biweekly; semiweekly (occurring twice a week)

hebdomadal; hebdomadary; weekly (of or occurring every seven days)

nightly (happening every night)

daily; day-after-day; day-by-day; day-to-day (of or belonging to or occurring every day)

diurnal (having a daily cycle or occurring every day)

oscillating; oscillatory (having periodic vibrations)

cyclic (marked by repeated cycles)

Derivation:

period (the interval taken to complete one cycle of a regularly repeating phenomenon)

periodical (a publication that appears at fixed intervals)

 Context examples 

A periodical dedicated to a particular subject.

(Journal, NCI Thesaurus)

In one of the great juvenile periodicals he noted whole columns of incident and anecdote.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Yet they are not averse to comfortable chairs and the latest periodicals.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

They have likewise discovered two lesser stars, or satellites, which revolve about Mars; whereof the innermost is distant from the centre of the primary planet exactly three of his diameters, and the outermost, five; the former revolves in the space of ten hours, and the latter in twenty-one and a half; so that the squares of their periodical times are very near in the same proportion with the cubes of their distance from the centre of Mars; which evidently shows them to be governed by the same law of gravitation that influences the other heavenly bodies.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)