■ noun
1》 a length or portion of time.
↘a major division of geological time that is a subdivision of an era and is itself subdivided into epochs.
2》 each of the set divisions of the day in a school.
3》 (also menstrual ~ ) a monthly flow of blood and other material from the lining of the uterus, occurring in women of childbearing age when not pregnant.
4》 N. Amer. a full stop.
5》 Physics the interval of time between successive occurrences of the same state in an oscillatory or cyclic phenomenon.
6》 Mathematics the interval between successive equal values of a ~ic function.
7》 Chemistry a set of elements occupying a horizontal row in the ~ic table.
8》 Astronomy the time taken by a celestial object to rotate about its axis, or to make one circuit of its orbit.
9》 Rhetoric a complex sentence, especially one consisting of several clauses, constructed as part of a formal speech or oration.
■ adjective belonging to or characteristic in style of a past historical time: ~ furniture.
Derivatives
~ization or ~isation noun
~ize or ~ise verb
Origin
ME: from OFr. ~e , via L. from Gk ~os 'orbit, recurrence, course'.