period
/ˈpɪɚ.i.əd/noun, adjective, interjection, verb
period is spelled P-E-R-I-O-D. The wrong spelling people search most is peroid: about 100 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 51 of all searches for the word. Period is a noun meaning “A length of time”. The plural of period is periods.
How many letters and syllables are in period?
| Letters | 6: P-E-R-I-O-D |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 162 times per million words; the 625th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 3; the most searched, peroid, about 100 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How do you spell period?
Period is spelled P-E-R-I-O-D. 3 wrong spellings are searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 40 of the searches for period in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is period?
Period appears 162 times per million words in written English, the 625th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce period?
- UK /ˈpɪə.ɹi.əd/
- British /ˈpɪːɹɪjəd/
- US /ˈpɪɚ.i.əd/
Period has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-period.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with period
Also written: purr.
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of period
- periods plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- per.
- perioding participle, present
- perioded participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does period mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A length of time.
There was a period of confusion following the announcement.
- 2
A length of time in history seen as a single coherent entity; an epoch, era.
Food rationing continued in the post-war period.
- 3
CanadaUSThe punctuation mark “.” (indicating the ending of a sentence or marking an abbreviation).
- 4
A decisive end to something; a stop.
- 5
The length of time during which the same characteristics of a periodic phenomenon recur, such as the repetition of a wave or the rotation of a planet.
- 6
Female menstruation; an episode of this.
When she is on her period, she prefers not to go swimming.
- 7
The set of symptoms associated with menstruation, even if not accompanied by menstruation; an episode of these symptoms.
- 8
A section of an artist's, writer's (etc.) career distinguished by a given quality, preoccupation etc.
This is one of the last paintings Picasso created during his Blue Period.
adjective
- 1
Designating anything from a given historical era.
a period car
- 2
Evoking, or appropriate for, a particular historical period, especially through the use of elaborate costumes and scenery.
a period piece
- 3
Menstrual.
period pains
interjection
- 1
CanadaUSThat's final; that's the end of the matter (analogous to a period ending a sentence); end of story.
I know you don't want to go to the dentist, but your teeth need to be checked, period!
verb
- 1
obsoleteTo come to a period; to conclude.
- 2
obsoleterareTo put an end to.
- 3
colloquialTo menstruate; to excrete menstrual blood.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate period?
Wiktionary records 2 abbreviations of period: PD, per..
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Period in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | période , point final , point , cycle , point barre, un point c'est tout |
| German | Zeitraum, Periode , Punkt , Schluss, aus, Ende, Punkt. Aus. Ende , Epoche |
| Portuguese | período , ponto, ponto final , aula |
| Spanish | período, periodo , punto , y punto , de época |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does period come from?
From Middle English periode, from Middle French periode, from Medieval Latin periodus, from Ancient Greek περίοδος (períodos, “circuit, orbit, a recurring interval of time, path around”), from περι- (peri-, “around”) + ὁδός (hodós, “way”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).