periodicity

noun

pe·​ri·​od·​ic·​i·​ty ˌpir-ē-ə-ˈdi-sə-tē 

: the quality, state, or fact of being regularly recurrent or having periods

Examples of periodicity in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

There's a window of about 400 seconds centered on that periodicity, and a burst can appear anywhere within the window and will last anywhere from 30 to 300 seconds. —John Timmer, Ars Technica, 19 July 2023

But why does this roughly 800-year periodicity exist? —Robin George Andrews, Quanta Magazine, 20 Feb. 2024

The thumb controlled the formant (that is, the amplitude peak in the spectrum that distinguishes the instrument’s timbre), the index finger controlled the waveform using a circular grid, and the three remaining fingers controlled the periodicity. —IEEE Spectrum, 1 Feb. 2024

The key finding was that the spectrum of light from the star indicated that the 1.6-day periodicity is probably from a regular physical pulsing by the normal star in the HD 45166 system. —John Timmer, Ars Technica, 17 Aug. 2023

Word History

First Known Use

1820, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

periodicity

noun

pe·​ri·​od·​ic·​i·​ty ˌpir-ē-ə-ˈdis-ət-ē 

plural periodicities

: the quality, state, or fact of being regularly recurrent or having periods

the periodicity of peptic ulcer is … characteristic of the disease

—The Journal of the American Medical Association