periodical
Americannoun
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periodicals
plural
adjective
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published at regularly recurring intervals.
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of or relating to such publications.
noun
adjective
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of or relating to such publications
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published at regular intervals
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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:
El Niño, a pattern of periodical sea surface warming, affects weather systems globally.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
This trend is seen with periodical comic books too, with only four franchises outside of Marvel and DC able to crack the top 50 comics of 2024.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 28, 2025
Several editors at the Columbia Law Review described the board’s intervention as an unprecedented breach of editorial independence at the periodical, which is run by students at Columbia Law School.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 4, 2024
There are close to 200 species of cicada in North America, only seven of which exhibit synchronized 13- and 17-year life cycles — otherwise known as periodical cicadas.
From Salon ● May 16, 2024
The NACW, along with its publication Woman’s Era, the first periodical published in the United States by black women, became a powerful force in the fight for the ballot.
From "1919 The Year That Changed America" by Martin W. Sandler
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
At central Amsterdam’s landmark Athanaeum bookstore, whose eclectic periodicals draw a loyal clientele from across Europe, customers and staff alike were briefly mystified by the long queues at a nearby koekmakerij — a cookie shop.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2024
By the time the annual cicadas come out, the periodicals are long dead.
From Salon ● May 16, 2024
Eno is also a voracious reader of scientific periodicals, and says the advances being made on climate change are another reason to feel hopeful, even if they rarely penetrate the mainstream.
From BBC ● Apr. 18, 2024
I had gone to Mee Lung Dry Goods over the weekend and scoured all the periodicals for advertisements and photographs.
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
