periodic

pe·ri·od·ic/ˌpɪɹiˈɑdɪk/adjective

periodic is spelled P-E-R-I-O-D-I-C: 8 letters and 4 syllables (pe·ri·od·ic). It appears 4.3 times per million words in written English, the 12,397th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, periodic means “Relative to a period or periods” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in periodic?

Letters	8: P-E-R-I-O-D-I-C
Syllables	4: pe·ri·od·ic
In writing	4.3 times per million words; the 12,397th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searched	none measured in search
Rhymes with	episodic spasmodic prosodic synodic

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is periodic?

Periodic appears 4.3 times per million words in written English, the 12,397th most frequent word form in the list.

periodic0.0010.010.11101001,00010,000

rarerper million words of written Englishmore common

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce periodic?

UK /ˌpɪɹiˈɒdɪk/
UK /ˌpɪə-/
US /ˌpɪɹiˈɑdɪk/

As an adjective (“Relating to the highest oxidation state of iodine; of or…”): /ˌpɜːɹaɪˈɒdɪk/.

Periodic has 4 syllables, split pe·ri·od·ic in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-periodic.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-periodic_(science).wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with periodic?

4 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as periodic from its last stressed vowel (/ɑdɪk/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

What does periodic mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adjective

1
Relative to a period or periods.
2
Having repeated cycles.
3
Occurring at regular intervals.
4
Periodical.
5
Pertaining to the revolution of a celestial object in its orbit.
6
For which any return to it must occur in multiples of k time steps, for some k>1.
7
Having a structure characterized by periodic sentences.
8
Relating to the highest oxidation state of iodine; of or derived from a periodic acid.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Periodic in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

Language	Words
French	périodique (relative to a period or periods)
Portuguese	periódico (relative to a period or periods)
German	periodisch (having repeated cycles)
Spanish	periódico (having repeated cycles)

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 periodic come from?

From French périodique, from Medieval Latin periodicus (“cyclical”), from Latin periodus (“complete sentence, period, circuit”), from Ancient Greek περίοδος (períodos, “cycle, period of time”). By surface analysis, period + -ic.