/ ˈpɪəriəd; NAmE ˈpɪr-/ noun , adverb , adjective
■ noun
LENGTH OF TIME
1.
a particular length of time :
a period of consultation / mourning / uncertainty
The factory will be closed down over a 2-year period / a period of two years.
This compares with a 4% increase for the same period last year.
This offer is available for a limited period only.
All these changes happened over a period of time .
The aim is to reduce traffic at peak periods .
You can have it for a trial period (= in order to test it) .
—see also cooling-off period
2.
a length of time in the life of a particular person or in the history of a particular country :
Which period of history would you most like to have lived in?
the post-war period
Like Picasso, she too had a blue period.
Most teenagers go through a period of rebelling.
3.
( geology ) a length of time which is a division of an era :
the Jurassic period
LESSON
4.
any of the parts that a day is divided into at a school, college, etc. for study :
'What do you have next period?' 'French.'
a free / study period (= for private study)
WOMAN
5.
the flow of blood each month from the body of a woman who is not pregnant :
period pains
monthly periods
When did you last have a period ?
—compare menstruation
PUNCTUATION
6.
( NAmE ) = full stop noun
7.
[ C ] ( geology ) a length of time which is a division of an era . A period is divided into epochs .
■ adverb
( especially NAmE ) = full stop :
The answer is no, period!
■ adjective
[ only before noun ] having a style typical of a particular time in history :
period costumes / furniture
••
WORD ORIGIN
late Middle English (denoting the time during which something, especially a disease, runs its course): from Old French periode , via Latin from Greek periodos orbit, recurrence, course, from peri- around + hodos way, course. The sense portion of time dates from the early 17th cent.