Period vs. Cycle

Period vs. Cycle — Is There a Difference?
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Difference Between Period and Cycle

Periodnoun

A length of time.

There was a period of confusion following the announcement.You'll be on probation for a six-month period.

Cyclenoun

An interval of space or time in which one set of events or phenomena is completed.

the cycle of the seasons, or of the year

Periodnoun

A period of time in history seen as a single coherent entity; an epoch, era.

Food rationing continued in the post-war period.

Cyclenoun

A complete rotation of anything.

Periodnoun

The punctuation mark “.” (indicating the ending of a sentence or marking an abbreviation).

Cyclenoun

A process that returns to its beginning and then repeats itself in the same sequence.

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Periodnoun

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.

Cyclenoun

The members of the sequence formed by such a process.

Periodnoun

Female menstruation.

When she is on her period, she prefers not to go swimming.

Cyclenoun

(music) In musical set theory, an interval cycle is the set of pitch classes resulting from repeatedly applying the same interval class to the starting pitch class.

The interval cycle C4 consists of the pitch classes 0, 4 and 8; when starting on E, it is realised as the pitches E, G# and C.

Periodnoun

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.

Cyclenoun

A series of poems, songs or other works of art.

The "Ring of the Nibelung" is a cycle of four operas by Richard Wagner, the famous nineteenth-century German composer.
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Periodnoun

Each of the divisions into which a school day is split, allocated to a given subject or activity.

I have math class in second period.

Cyclenoun

A programme on a washing machine, dishwasher, or other such device.

Put the washing in on a warm cycle.the spin cycle

Periodnoun

Each of the intervals into which various sporting events are divided.

Gretzky scored in the last minute of the second period.

Cyclenoun

A pedal-powered vehicle, such as a unicycle, bicycle, or tricycle, or a motorized vehicle that has either two or three wheels, such as a motorbike, motorcycle, motorized tricycle, or motortrike.

Periodnoun

The length of time for a disease to run its course.

Cyclenoun

(baseball) A single, a double, a triple, and a home run hit by the same player in the same game.

Jones hit for the cycle in the game.

Periodnoun

An end or conclusion; the final point of a process etc.

Cyclenoun

(graph theory) A closed walk or path, with or without repeated vertices allowed.

Periodnoun

(rhetoric) A complete sentence, especially one expressing a single thought or making a balanced, rhythmic whole.

Cyclenoun

A chain whose boundary is zero.

Periodnoun

(obsolete) A specific moment during a given process; a point, a stage.

Cyclenoun

An imaginary circle or orbit in the heavens; one of the celestial spheres.

Periodnoun

(chemistry) A row in the periodic table of the elements.

Cyclenoun

An age; a long period of time.

Periodnoun

(geology) A subdivision of an era, typically lasting from tens to hundreds of millions of years, see Appendix: Geologic timescale.

Cyclenoun

An orderly list for a given time; a calendar.

Periodnoun

(genetics) A Drosophila gene, the gene product of which is involved in regulation of the circadian rhythm.

Cyclenoun

(botany) One entire round in a circle or a spire.

a cycle or set of leaves

Periodnoun

(music) Two phrases (an antecedent and a consequent phrase).

Cycleverb

To ride a bicycle or other cycle.

Periodnoun

(math) The length of an interval over which a periodic function, periodic sequence or repeating decimal repeats; often the least such length.

Cycleverb

To go through a cycle or to put through a cycle.

Periodnoun

(archaic) End point, conclusion.

Cycleverb

(electronics) To turn power off and back on

Avoid cycling the device unnecessarily.

Periodadjective

Designating anything from a given historical era.

a period cara period TV commercial

Cycleverb

(ice hockey) To maintain a team's possession of the puck in the offensive zone by handling and passing the puck in a loop from the boards near the goal up the side boards and passing to back to the boards near the goal

They have their cycling game going tonight.

Periodadjective

Evoking, or appropriate for, a particular historical period, especially through the use of elaborate costumes and scenery.

Cyclenoun

an interval during which a recurring sequence of events occurs;

the neverending cycle of the seasons

Periodinterjection

That's final; that's the end of the matter (analogous to a period ending a sentence).

I know you don't want to go to the dentist but your teeth need to be checked, period!

Cyclenoun

a series of poems or songs on the same theme;

schubert's song cycles

Periodverb

To come to a period; to conclude.

Cyclenoun

a periodically repeated sequence of events;

a cycle of reprisal and retaliation

Periodverb

To put an end to.

Cyclenoun

the unit of frequency; one Hertz has a periodic interval of one second

Periodnoun

an amount of time;

a time period of 30 yearshastened the period of time of his recoveryPicasso's blue period

Cyclenoun

a single complete execution of a periodically repeated phenomenon;

a year constitutes a cycle of the seasons

Periodnoun

one of three periods of play in hockey games

Cyclenoun

a wheeled vehicle that has two wheels and is moved by foot pedals

Periodnoun

a stage in the history of a culture having a definable place in space and time;

a novel from the Victorian period

Cycleverb

cause to go through a recurring sequence;

cycle thge laundry in this washing program

Periodnoun

the interval taken to complete one cycle of a regularly repeating phenomenon

Cycleverb

pass through a cycle;

This machine automatically cycles

Periodnoun

the monthly discharge of blood from the uterus of nonpregnant women from puberty to menopause;

the women were sickly and subject to excessive menstruationa woman does not take the gout unless her menses be stoppedthe semen begins to appear in males and to be emitted at the same time of life that the catamenia begin to flow in females

Cycleverb

ride a motorcycle

Periodnoun

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

Cycleverb

ride a bicycle

Periodnoun

a unit of geological time during which a system of rocks formed;

ganoid fishes swarmed during the earlier geological periods

Cycleverb

recur in repeating sequences

Periodnoun

the end or completion of something;

death put a period to his endeavorsa change soon put a period to my tranquility