DIMENSIONS: MEASURE / Proportion
Music: a division of a composition, consisting of two or more contrasted or complementary phrases.
R E F E R E N C E S
Period n. 1. a rather large interval of time that is meaningful in the life of a person, in history, etc., because of its particular characteristics. 2. any specified division or portion of time. 3. a definite, timed part of a game, school day, etc. 4. Music, a division of a composition, consisting of two or more contrasted or complementary phrases. 5. Geol. the basic unit of geological time, during which a standard rock system is formed, comprising several epochs and included with other periods in an era. 6. Physics. the duration of one complete cycle of a wave or oscillation; the reciprocal of the frequency. 7. Astron. a. Also called period of rotation. the time in which a body rotates once on its axis. b. Also called period of revolution. The time in which a planet or satellite revolves once about its primary. 8. a round of time or series of years by which time is measured. 9. a round of time marked by the recurrence of some phenomenon or occupied by some recurring process of action. 10. the point of completion of a round of time or of the time during which something lasts or happens. 11. a time of the month during which menstruation occurs. 12. the time during which anything runs its course. 13. the present time. 14. the point or character [.] used to mark the end of a declarative sentence, indicate an abbreviation, etc. 15. a full pase, as is made at the end of a complete sentence. 16. See periodic sentence. 17. Class. Pros. a group of two or more cola. -adj. 18. noting, pertaining to, or characteristic of a historical period; period piece; period costumes. [late ME peryod < ML, L period(us) < GK perâodos circuit, period of time, period in rhetoric, lit., way around. See PERI-, -ODE2]
-Syn. 1. interval. See age. 2. term.
Periodic adj. 1. recurring at intervals of tme. 2. occuring or appearing at regular intervals. 3. repeated at irregualr intervals; intermittent. 4. Physics. recurring at equal intervals of time. 5. Astron. a. characterized by a series of successive circuits or revolutions, as the motion of a planet or satelite. b. of or pertaining to a period, as of the revolution of a heavenly body. 6. pertaining to or characterized by periodic sentences.
[Urdang, Laurence, ed. Random House Dictionary of The English Language. New York: Random House, 1968.]
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