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:
The U.S., where there are both annual and periodical cicada swarms, tends to take a more laissez-faire approach.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 30, 2026
El Niño, a pattern of periodical sea surface warming, affects weather systems globally.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
“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
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
Give me plastics, periodical tables, t.v. dinners with vegetables no more complex than peas mixed with diced carrots.
From "The Woman Warrior" by Maxine Hong Kingston
Jackson’s proposal died in the Senate, but that did not end postal censorship of 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
Simply put, photographs were still scarce, relatively speaking, but they were on their way to replacing woodblock illustrations in newspapers and periodicals to become the dominant form of visual media.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 5, 2025
For example, the University of Chicago now spends more than $100,000 annually on buying books and periodicals through the Library of Congress field office in Delhi.
From BBC ● Dec. 29, 2024
Spiritual periodicals contained serialized fiction, book reviews, ads for upcoming lectures, wedding and birth announcements, all items common to hometown papers.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
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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.
