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Periodic vs Annual - What's the difference?

periodic | annual |

As adjectives the difference between periodic and annual

is that periodic is relative to a period or periods while annual is happening once every year.

As a noun annual is

an annual publication; a book, periodical, journal, report, comic book, yearbook, etc., which is published serially once a year, which may or may not be in addition to regular weekly or monthly publication.

periodic

English

Alternative forms

* periodick (obsolete)

Etymology 1

From (etyl) .

Adjective

(-)
  • Relative to a period or periods.
  • Having repeated cycles.
  • *{{quote-book, year=1899, author=(Stephen Crane)
    • , title=, chapter=1 , passage=There was some laughter, and Roddle was left free to expand his ideas on the periodic visits of cowboys to the town. “Mason Rickets, he had ten big punkins a-sittin' in front of his store, an' them fellers from the Upside-down-F ranch shot 'em up […].”}}
  • Occurring at regular intervals.
  • Periodical.
  • (label) Pertaining to the revolution of a celestial object in its orbit.
  • For which any return to it must occur in multiples of k time steps, for some k>1.
  • (label) Having a structure characterized by periodic sentences.
  • (label) Relating to, derived from, or designating, the highest oxygen acid (HIO) of iodine.
    • Antonyms
    * (astronomy) non-periodic * (mathematics) aperiodic
    Derived terms
    (terms derived from periodic) * periodic classification * periodic function * periodic law * periodic system * periodic table
    Related terms
    * period * periodicity

    Etymology 2

    Adjective

    (-)
  • Of or derived from a periodic acid.
    • Derived terms
    * periodate * periodic acid English heteronyms ----

    annual

    English

    Adjective

    (-)
  • Happening once every year.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-29, volume=407, issue=8842, page=29, magazine=(The Economist)
    • , title= Unspontaneous combustion , passage=Since the mid-1980s, when Indonesia first began to clear its bountiful forests on an industrial scale in favour of lucrative palm-oil plantations, “haze” has become an almost annual occurrence in South-East Asia. The cheapest way to clear logged woodland is to burn it, producing an acrid cloud of foul white smoke that, carried by the wind, can cover hundreds, or even thousands, of square miles.}}
  • Of, for, or relating to a whole year, often as a recurring cycle; determined or reckoned by the year; accumulating in the course of a year; performed, executed, or completed over the course of a year. See also circannual.
  • (botany, of a plant) Having a life cycle that is completed in only one growing season; e.g. beans, corn, marigold. See in Wikipedia. Compare biennial, perennial.
  • (entomology) Living or lasting just one season or year, as certain insects or insect colonies.

    • Synonyms

    * yearly

    Derived terms

    * * * * * * * * * *

    Related terms

    () * biennial * perennial

    See also

    * per annum

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • An ; a book, periodical, journal, report, comic book, yearbook, etc., which is published serially once a year, which may or may not be in addition to regular weekly or monthly publication.
    • ''I read the magazine, but I usually don't purchase the annuals .
  • (botany) An ; a plant with a life span of just one growing season; a plant which naturally germinates, flowers and dies in one year. Compare biennial, perennial.
    • I can't wait to plant my annuals in the spring.