Periode

See also: periode, période, and període

German

Etymology

15th century as Periodus m or f, a learned borrowing from Latin periodus f, at first in the grammatical sense. The semantic development as well as the form in -e (17th c.) likely under influence of French période.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /peˈri̯oːdə/, [pe.ʁiˈoː.də], (less often) [pɛɐ̯ˈjoː.də]

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

Noun

Periode f (genitive Periode, plural Perioden)

1. (biology) period, menstruation

   Synonyms: (more formal) Menstruation, (Monats-)Regel, Monatsblutung, Regelblutung, (informal) Tage, (medical) Menses

2. (higher register) period (length of time with start and end point)

   Synonyms: Zeitraum, Phase, (Zeit-)Abschnitt, (Zeit-)Spanne; Intervall, Stadium; (history) Zeitalter, Epoche, Ära

3. (grammar, rhetoric) period (lengthy but well formed sentence)

Usage notes

• Periode in the sense of “menstruation”, though not necessarily the most frequent word altogether, is the most register-neutral, i.e. that which can be used in any context without sounding strange.

Declension

Declension of Periode [feminine]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	eine	die	Periode	die	Perioden
genitive	einer	der	Periode	der	Perioden
dative	einer	der	Periode	den	Perioden
accusative	eine	die	Periode	die	Perioden

Derived terms

• Periodendauer
• Periodenfrequenz
• Periodensystem

• Abrechnungsperiode
• Amtsperiode
• Heizperiode
• Hitzeperiode
• Kälteperiode
• Lallperiode
• Legislaturperiode
• Maximalperiode
• Minimalperiode
• Schaffensperiode
• Schlechtwetterperiode
• Schönwetterperiode
• Sprachperiode
• Tauwetterperiode
• Trockenperiode
• Wahlperiode
• Wischperiode

Further reading

• “Periode” in Duden online
• “Periode” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache