periodical

1 of 2

adjective

pe·​ri·​od·​i·​cal ˌpir-ē-ˈä-di-kəl How to pronounce periodical (audio)
1
2
a
: published with a fixed interval between the issues or numbers
b
: published in, characteristic of, or connected with a periodical

periodical

2 of 2

noun

: a periodical publication

Examples of periodical in a Sentence

Adjective a periodical town newsletter that is supported by local advertisers periodical announcements from airline personnel concerning the delay Noun She writes for a monthly periodical. The library has a large collection of scholarly periodicals.
Recent Examples on the Web
Adjective
There are also seven periodical species of cicadas in North America: three that emerge once every 17 years and four species that emerge once every 13 years. Journal Sentinel, 16 Feb. 2024 These types of cicadas are periodical insects that spend most of their lives underground feeding on tree roots. Denise Chow, NBC News, 20 Jan. 2024 Jason didn't see much of his dad during his early childhood While Coni and Jason lived in Iowa, Joseph made periodical visits. Chris Alexis, Peoplemag, 25 Nov. 2023 Hopkins was a literary path-breaker, working as a periodical editor and publisher and as a race-issues novelist when these roles were barely open to women. New York Times, 12 Oct. 2023 Wintery conditions will last through March, the periodical predicts. Victoria Moorwood, The Enquirer, 10 Aug. 2023 While at Stanford, Tatlock wrote for the Western Worker, the Communist Party's west coast periodical. Town & Country, 28 July 2023 The periodical forecasts below-average temperatures with lots of snowstorms, sleet, ice and rain throughout the Great Lakes and Midwest. Victoria Moorwood, The Enquirer, 10 Aug. 2023 The agent eventually sold excerpts to The Paris Review and the periodical New World Writing. Hillel Italie, ajc, 4 Sep. 2022
Noun
Before World, a biweekly, was launched in 1986, religious periodicals were often cheaply mimeographed and filled with church news. Michael S. Rosenwald, New York Times, 14 Feb. 2024 In pure numbers—books, not victims—Stalin comes out ahead, having owned some twenty-five thousand, including periodicals and pamphlets. Claudia Roth Pierpont, The New Yorker, 19 Feb. 2024 Collins joined the staff of Dickens’ magazine Household Words, and the pair co-wrote plays and stories for periodicals. Katherine Hobbs, Smithsonian Magazine, 29 Jan. 2024 For them, this find is validation that their collection of nearly 4 million books, newspapers, periodicals, manuscripts, and pamphlets is a boon to researchers studying early American history. Michael Casey, The Christian Science Monitor, 18 Jan. 2024 Soon, Carlson was writing for the Policy Review, a periodical published by the Heritage Foundation, followed by The Weekly Standard, Esquire, and New York, while also becoming the youngest anchor on CNN. Evan Osnos, The New Yorker, 22 Jan. 2024 According to the National Women’s History Museum, family finances were tight — but the Days still subscribed to The Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, and other periodicals, which young Sandra read with her mother. O’Connor attended school in El Paso but returned to the ranch during summers. Steven P. Dinkin, San Diego Union-Tribune, 10 Dec. 2023 In parallel, some parents believe that these AI characters are the 2023 equivalent of the slick Joe Camel cartoons, which ran as advertisements in periodicals with large children readerships to softly introduce youth to smoking from 1988 through the 1990s. Alexandra Sternlicht, Fortune, 17 Nov. 2023 At any rate, the newspaper was awfully thin, as are most American periodicals nowadays, with its thinness spent largely on indoor pronouncements; hence any outdoor death might go unreported, thereby preserving me from knowing about it—bad for my essay but relaxing for my conscience. William T. Vollmann, Harper's Magazine, 16 Oct. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'periodical.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

Adjective

1585, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

1798, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of periodical was in 1585

Dictionary Entries Near periodical

Cite this Entry

“Periodical.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/periodical. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

periodical

1 of 2 adjective
pe·​ri·​od·​i·​cal ˌpir-ē-ˈäd-i-kəl How to pronounce periodical (audio)
1
2
: published at regular intervals
periodically
-k(ə-)lē
adverb

periodical

2 of 2 noun
: a periodical publication

More from Merriam-Webster on periodical

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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