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periodization

American

[peer-ee-uh-duh-zey-shuhn] / ˌpɪər i ə dəˈzeɪ ʃən /

noun

an act or instance of dividing a subject into historical eras for purposes of analysis and study.

periodization British

/ ˌpɪərɪədaɪˈzeɪʃən /

noun

the act or process of dividing history into periods

"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

Etymology

Origin of periodization

First recorded in 1935–40; period + -ization

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.

“It’s hard to create a periodization in a cultural moment,” says museum chief curator Cate Thurston.

From Los Angeles Times • May 18, 2026

The presentation was on a concept called periodization: the chunking of history into different periods.

From New York Times • May 13, 2021

One of the fundamental challenges of writing cultural history is periodization.

From Slate • Dec. 7, 2020

While that periodization overlooks some of the specifics of Egyptian history, it is still the preferred method for dating ancient Egypt to this day because of its simplicity and clarity.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2020

What Tony Horton calls "muscle confusion," exercise scientists call "periodization," and they've been calling it that for decades.

From Washington Post • Apr. 29, 2010

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023