periodical
Americannoun
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periodicals
plural
adjective
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published at regularly recurring intervals.
-
of or relating to such publications.
noun
adjective
-
of or relating to such publications
-
published at regular intervals
-
periodic or occasional
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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periodicalismnoun
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periodicalistnoun
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periodicalnessnoun
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nonperiodicaladjective
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unperiodicaladjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of periodical
First recorded in 1595–1605; periodic 1 + -al 1
Explanation
If your weekend ritual includes reading the Sunday paper from front to back and then comparing stories in the latest celebrity gossip magazines, you appreciate periodicals, publications that come out on a regular basis. The word periodical is related to period, as in a certain length of time. Periodicals are published with regular lengths of time between issues and are described by that length of time, whether it's daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annual. They may be meant for a general audience like the ones you find on the magazine stand in the airport, or they may be more specialized for readers with specific interests, such as The Journal of the Society for Penguin Appreciation or Window Washer Gazette.
Vocabulary lists containing periodical
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Before that, he led technology coverage at the monthly retail trade periodical Chain Store Age, where he was runner-up for a Jesse H. Neal Award.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 18, 2026
Declonius Peck, its beloved editor-in-chief, has gone to prison for embezzlement, and his evil twin, Salton, has assumed management of the family business, along with the 39 editors who curate the periodical.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026
An entire notebook is devoted to The Spectator, a daily periodical that ran for 555 issues between 1711 and 1712 commenting on the manners and fads of London society.
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2025
“Have they read the harrowing history of their ancestors’ bondage in Egypt to no purpose?” one writer in a Jewish periodical asked of pro-slavery Jews.
From Slate ● Apr. 10, 2025
The proles, normally apathetic about the war, were being lashed into one of their periodical frenzies of patriotism.
From "1984" by George Orwell
Acknowledging that he lacked statutory authority to ban material from the mail, he nonetheless ruled against delivery of the abolitionist periodicals.
From Slate ● Sep. 4, 2026
We learn that Renoir’s scenes of contemporary life often served as illustrations for books and periodicals, and discover the influence of the requirements of reproduction on his technique.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 20, 2025
Lowrider magazine was once among the bestselling newsstand automotive periodicals in the country.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 12, 2025
In the 1950s and 1960s, her stories were broadcast on the CBC and published in several Canadian periodicals.
From BBC ● May 14, 2024
There are piles of scientific periodicals and little china figurines of fat-faced children that belonged to my grandmother.
From "The Fourteenth Goldfish" by Jennifer L. Holm
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
