an amount of time
"a time period of 30 years"
"hastened the period of time of his recovery"
"Picasso's blue period"
the interval taken to complete one cycle of a regularly repeating phenomenon
"The pendulum's period is exactly two seconds, so it swings back and forth at a steady rhythm every time that duration passes."
(ice hockey) one of three divisions into which play is divided in hockey games
"The team took a break between periods to stretch their legs before heading back onto the ice for the final round."
a unit of geological time during which a system of rocks formed
"ganoid fishes swarmed during the earlier geological periods"
the end or completion of something
"death put a period to his endeavors"
"a change soon put a period to my tranquility"
the monthly discharge of blood from the uterus of nonpregnant women from puberty to menopause
"the women were sickly and subject to excessive menstruation"
"a woman does not take the gout unless her menses be stopped"
"the semen begins to appear in males and to be emitted at the same time of life that the catamenia begin to flow in females"
a punctuation mark (.) placed at the end of a declarative sentence to indicate a full stop or after abbreviations
"in England they call a period a stop"
A length of time.
"The project has a strict deadline of three months, so we need to finish everything within that period."
In plain English: A period is a full stop at the end of a sentence that shows it is finished.
"The period at the end of the sentence indicates where you should pause before starting a new thought."
Usage: Use period to refer to any specific duration or span of time, such as "a long period of peace." Do not use it interchangeably with terms like instant or moment when describing a singular point in time.
To come to a period; to conclude.
"The debate was finally brought to a period when the moderator called for recess."
In plain English: To period something means to put a full stop at the end of a sentence.
"She decided to period her speech by removing unnecessary words."
Usage: Use "period" as a verb when something officially ends or stops, such as saying a meeting will "period" once the agenda is finished. This usage emphasizes a final conclusion rather than just pausing an activity.
Designating anything from a given historical era.
"The museum exhibit was divided into distinct periods of American history, ranging from colonial times to the present day."
"The period edition of the magazine is very hard to find."
Usage: Use "period" as an adjective to describe something belonging to a specific historical era, such as in "the Victorian period furniture." Do not use it this way when referring to the end of a sentence or a woman's monthly cycle.
That's final; that's the end of the matter (analogous to a period ending a sentence); end of story
"No more arguments, it is settled and that is absolutely the end."
The word "period" entered English via French and Latin from the Ancient Greek períodos, which originally meant a circuit or orbit. It was adopted to describe recurring intervals of time, eventually replacing native words like "tide" that had previously held this meaning.