cyclic

American  

[sahy-klik, sik-lik] / ˈsaɪ klɪk, ˈsɪk lɪk /

adjective

1. revolving or recurring in cycles; characterized by recurrence in cycles.

2. of, relating to, or constituting a cycle or cycles.

3. Chemistry. of or relating to a compound that contains a closed chain or ring of atoms (contrasted with acyclic).

4. Botany.

   1. arranged in whorls, as the parts of a flower.

   2. (of a flower) having the parts so arranged.

5. Mathematics.

   1. pertaining to an algebraic system in which all the elements of a group are powers of one element.

   2. (of a set of elements) arranged as if on a circle, so that the first element follows the last.

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cyclic British  

/ ˈsɪklɪk, ˈsaɪklɪkəl, ˈsɪklɪkəl, ˈsaɪklɪk /

adjective

1. recurring or revolving in cycles

2. (of an organic compound) containing a closed saturated or unsaturated ring of atoms See also heterocyclic homocyclic

3. botany

   1. arranged in whorls

      cyclic petals

   2. having parts arranged in this way

      cyclic flowers

4. music of or relating to a musical form consisting of several movements sharing thematic material

5. geometry (of a polygon) having vertices that lie on a circle

6. (in generative grammar) denoting one of a set of transformational rules all of which must apply to a clause before any one of them applies to any clause in which the first clause is embedded

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cyclic Scientific  

/ sĭk′lĭk,sī′klĭk /

1. Occurring or moving in cycles.

2. Relating to a compound having atoms arranged in a ring or closed-chain structure. Benzene is a cyclic compound.

3. Having parts arranged in a whorl.

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Other Word Forms

• cyclically
  adverb
• cyclicity
  noun
• noncyclic
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of cyclic

1785–95; < Latin cyclicus < Greek kyklikós circular. See cycle, -ic

Explanation

The adjective cyclic describes something that happens so regularly, you can predict it, like the cyclic trips to buy notebooks and sneakers when preparing for a new school year. Accent the first syllable in cyclic: "SICK-lick." Something that is cyclic follows a cycle, a sequence in which things begin and end in a predictable rhythm. Cycle comes from the Greek word kyklos, meaning "circle, wheel, any circular body, circular motion, cycle of events." So something that is cyclic shares that same pattern.

Example Sentences

This cyclic trend is not new to Opie, whose best-known works, particularly from the 1990s, brought unprecedented visibility to communities that contemporary photography at the time rarely focused on.

From Los Angeles Times • May 26, 2026

Their experiments showed that semaglutide's impact depended heavily on increased levels of cyclic adenosine monophosphate, or cAMP, in the area postrema, a part of the brain involved in appetite regulation.

From Science Daily • May 25, 2026

The breakthrough came from focusing on a special feature of W states known as cyclic shift symmetry.

From Science Daily • May 13, 2026

“Reproductive-age women from puberty to menopause have significant cyclic changes in their sex hormones during the course of their menstrual cycle,” says Dr. Kacey M. Hamilton, a complex benign gynecologist at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 14, 2026

Grain by grain, molecule by molecule, carbohydrate fuel in the form of glucose is fed into this wheel; in its cyclic passage the fuel molecule undergoes fragmentation and a series of minute chemical changes.

From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson