periodical

[peer-ee-od-i-kuh l]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR periodical ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a magazine or other journal that is issued at regularly recurring intervals.

adjective

published at regularly recurring intervals.

of or relating to such publications.

periodic¹.

Origin of periodical

First recorded in 1595–1605; periodic¹ + -al¹

Related formspe·ri·od·i·cal·ism, nounpe·ri·od·i·cal·ist, nounpe·ri·od·i·cal·ness, nounnon·pe·ri·od·i·cal, adjective, nounnon·pe·ri·od·i·cal·ly, adverbun·pe·ri·od·i·cal, adjectiveun·pe·ri·od·i·cal·ly, adverb

Can be confusedperiodic periodical

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for periodical

journal, magazine, quarterly, monthly, mag, weekly, rag, sheet, review, slick, number, paper, newspaper, serial, throwaway

Examples from the Web for periodical

Contemporary Examples of periodical

What the Tea Party needed was its own periodical, he concluded.
Steven Allen: The Tea Party’s Editor in Chief
David A. Graham
February 10, 2011

Historical Examples of periodical

Here Pio Nono broke in with one of his periodical exclamations.
Camps, Quarters and Casual Places
Archibald Forbes
Because generally there is a periodical frost in the month of May, and it is coldest from the 11th to the 13th.
The Field of Ice
Jules Verne
It must be, with such genius, tact and experience, all that a weekly periodical can be.
Graham's Magazine Vol XXXII. No. 3. March 1848
Various
The projectors of this periodical were Mr. William Morris, Mr. Ed.
Recollections of Dante Gabriel Rossetti
T. Hall Caine
The use of a current periodical in class should be encouraged.
College Teaching
Paul Klapper

British Dictionary definitions for periodical

periodical

noun

a publication issued at regular intervals, usually monthly or weekly

adjective

of or relating to such publications

published at regular intervals

periodic or occasional

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for periodical

adj.

c.1600, from periodic + -al (1). As a noun meaning "magazine published at regular intervals," attested from 1798. Related: Periodically.