Periodically

How to spell periodically

12 letters · 6 syllables

How to pronounce periodically

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does periodically mean?

1. adverbAt regular or recurring intervals; from time to time.

Periodically in a sentence

• The boiler is inspected periodically to keep it within safety rules.

• She backs up her files periodically so she never loses a week of work.

Where does periodically come from?

Language of origin: Greek

The adverb traces back to the Greek periodos, which literally meant 'a way round' or 'a circuit', built from peri 'around' and hodos 'a way or path'. Greek writers used periodos for a recurring cycle, such as the orbit of a heavenly body or the rounds of an illness, and that sense of something coming back round at intervals is exactly what survives today. The word passed through Latin as periodus and into English in the 1500s, first as the noun 'period' meaning a stretch or recurring span of time. From it English built the adjective 'periodic' and then layered on the familiar -al and -ly endings to make the adverb. The hidden -od- carries the old Greek 'path' element, which is why the word keeps that single d and the smooth -ically tail rather than the heavier sound writers sometimes expect.

How the word is built

• peri- (around)
• -od- (from hodos: way, path)
• -ic (adjective)
• -al (adjective)
• -ly (adverb)