Period in Different Languages
Discover 'Period' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Updated on March 6, 2024
The word 'period' carries significant meaning in many contexts, including scientific, cultural, and linguistic realms. In the scientific community, a 'period' refers to the time it takes for a certain event to repeat, such as the length of time it takes for a planet to orbit the sun. Culturally, 'period' is often associated with menstruation, a natural biological process that has been stigmatized in many societies despite its universal significance to human life. The word 'period' also has fascinating historical contexts, such as its use in punctuation to signify the end of a sentence.
Given the multifaceted significance of the word 'period,' it's no wonder that people might be interested in its translation in different languages. For instance, in Spanish, 'period' is translated as 'período,' while in French, it's 'période.' In German, the word for 'period' is 'Periode,' and in Japanese, it's '期間' (kikan).
Period
Period in Sub-Saharan African Languages
| Afrikaans | periode | ||
| In Afrikaans, "periode" also means "sentence". | |||
| Amharic | ወቅት | ||
| The Amharic word ወቅት 'weqt' (period) also means 'time' or 'hour' and is derived from the root ስቅ 'seq' (to ripen, mature, time, season). | |||
| Hausa | lokaci | ||
| The Hausa word "lokaci" is a loanword from the Arabic word "waqt" which also means "time". | |||
| Igbo | oge | ||
| The Igbo word "oge" can also refer to a specific time or occasion, such as a ceremony or festival. | |||
| Malagasy | nanomboka teo | ||
| "NOMBOKA TEO" is also used to refer to menstrual blood. | |||
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | nthawi | ||
| The Nyanja word nthawi can also refer to a time, season, or era. | |||
| Shona | nguva | ||
| 'Nguva' also means 'time' in Shona, implying that it is an abstract concept not tied to any particular cycle. | |||
| Somali | muddo | ||
| Muddo is a loanword from Arabic and can also refer to a 'time period' in a general sense. | |||
| Sesotho | nako | ||
| While the word "nako" means "period" in Sesotho, it also refers to the lunar month and has connotations of completion and a cyclical nature. | |||
| Swahili | kipindi | ||
| The Swahili word "kipindi" can also refer to a segment of time within a larger event, such as a period of a game or a chapter of a book. | |||
| Xhosa | ixesha | ||
| "Ixhesha," the Xhosa word for "time," is also a term for menstruation, due to the time-bound nature and cyclical characteristics of both. | |||
| Yoruba | asiko | ||
| The Yoruba word "asiko" can also refer to a specific time of day or a particular occasion. | |||
| Zulu | isikhathi | ||
| The Zulu word "isikhathi" also means "time" or "season" and is related to the word "isikhathi samabula" which means "harvest time". | |||
| Bambara | kuntaala | ||
| Ewe | ɣeyiɣi | ||
| Kinyarwanda | igihe | ||
| Lingala | eleko | ||
| Luganda | ekiseera | ||
| Sepedi | paka | ||
| Twi (Akan) | berɛ | ||
Period in North African & Middle Eastern Languages
| Arabic | فترة | ||
| The word "فترة" can also refer to a recess or intermission, such as a school break or the pause between two halves of a soccer game. | |||
| Hebrew | פרק זמן | ||
| The word "פרק זמן" derives from the root פ-ר-ק, meaning "to divide" or "to separate", implying a segment or duration of time. | |||
| Pashto | موده | ||
| The word "موده" in Pashto can also refer to a "portion" or a "share" of something. | |||
| Arabic | فترة | ||
| The word "فترة" can also refer to a recess or intermission, such as a school break or the pause between two halves of a soccer game. | |||
Period in Western European Languages
| Albanian | periudha | ||
| The word "periudha" in Albanian derives from the Greek word "περίοδος" (períodos), meaning "a going around or circuit," and is related to the word "phereo" (φέρω), meaning "to carry" or "to bear." | |||
| Basque | aldia | ||
| "Aldia" derives from the Basque word "aldi" meaning "time" or "era". | |||
| Catalan | punt | ||
| In Catalan, "punt" can also refer to a punctuation mark, such as a dot or a period. | |||
| Croatian | razdoblje | ||
| The Croatian word 'razdoblje' can also refer to a 'difference' or a 'gap'. | |||
| Danish | periode | ||
| In Danish, "periode" can also refer to a menstrual cycle or a full stop in a sentence. | |||
| Dutch | periode | ||
| The Dutch word "periode" can also refer to an amount of time equal to 12 months. | |||
| English | period | ||
| Period can also mean 'the point in time at which something begins or ends' | |||
| French | période | ||
| Period may also refer to a specific part of a sporting contest, an era in time, or a full-stop in music. | |||
| Frisian | perioade | ||
| In Frisian, "perioade" also means "period of time" or "era". | |||
| Galician | período | ||
| In Galician, "período" can also refer to a time of day or a specific moment. | |||
| German | zeitraum | ||
| Derived from Middle High German "zīt rām", meaning "course of time", the term "Zeitraum" originally referred to a specific time frame. | |||
| Icelandic | tímabil | ||
| Tímabil can also refer to a car in Icelandic, as that's also something that lasts for a certain amount of time. | |||
| Irish | tréimhse | ||
| The Irish word "tréimhse" is most likely linked to the word "trae", meaning "time or season". | |||
| Italian | periodo | ||
| The word "periodo" in Italian can also mean "cycle", "time span", or "era". | |||
| Luxembourgish | period | ||
| In Luxembourgish, the word "Period" can also refer to a menstrual cycle or a comma. | |||
| Maltese | perjodu | ||
| "Perjodu" is derived from Latin "periodus," meaning "circle" or "cycle," and also refers to a fixed timeframe. | |||
| Norwegian | periode | ||
| The Norwegian word "periode" can also refer to a full stop or colon used in written text. | |||
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | período | ||
| In Portuguese, "período" can also refer to the school year (pt-PT) or a historical era (pt-BR). | |||
| Scots Gaelic | ùine | ||
| The word "ùine" is derived from the Old Norse word "tíð", which means "time" or "season". | |||
| Spanish | período | ||
| In Spanish, the word "período" can also refer to a musical sequence or a period in history. | |||
| Swedish | period | ||
| In Swedish, "period" also means "full stop", or "a dot at the end of a sentence." | |||
| Welsh | cyfnod | ||
| In Welsh, "cyfnod" can also refer to a "cycle". | |||
Period in Eastern European Languages
| Belarusian | перыяд | ||
| The word "перыяд" in Belarusian can also mean "a set of elements with similar properties" or "a term of office". | |||
| Bosnian | period | ||
| "Period" is a loan from Italian "periodo", which in turn comes from Latin "periodus" "cycle, period." | |||
| Bulgarian | период | ||
| The word "период" ("period") is derived from the Greek word "περίοδος" ("circuit, revolution") and it means "a fixed or recurrent interval of time" or "a part of a sentence or paragraph that is complete in itself and usually separated by a comma or other punctuation mark". | |||
| Czech | doba | ||
| The word "doba" in Czech can also refer to "era" or "time". | |||
| Estonian | periood | ||
| "Periood" can also mean a sentence or a paragraph | |||
| Finnish | aikana | ||
| The word "aikana" is derived from the Proto-Finnic word "*aika" meaning "time". | |||
| Hungarian | időszak | ||
| In Hungarian the word "időszak" can also mean "era" in the historical sense. | |||
| Latvian | periodā | ||
| "Perioda" also refers to a time of the month or a menstrual cycle. | |||
| Lithuanian | laikotarpį | ||
| "Laikotarpį" (period) shares its root with "laikas" (time) and "tarp" (between), referring to the time between two events. | |||
| Macedonian | период | ||
| In Macedonian, "период" can refer to a cycle, season, or era, analogous to the English word "period," but it can also mean "holiday" or "vacation." | |||
| Polish | kropka | ||
| The word "kropka" is derived from the Proto-Slavic word "kropъ", which means "drop" or "point". | |||
| Romanian | perioadă | ||
| In the Romanian word "perioadă" the stress is on different syllables for the meanings "period of history" and "period of menstruation" | |||
| Russian | период | ||
| The Russian word "период" (period) comes from the Greek word "περίοδος" (a going around, cycle), and can also mean "menstruation" or "full stop (punctuation)". | |||
| Serbian | раздобље | ||
| The word "раздобље" in Serbian can also mean "era" or "epoch". | |||
| Slovak | obdobie | ||
| In the context of literature, "obdobie" may refer to a literary epoch, such as Romanticism or the Victorian Era. | |||
| Slovenian | obdobje | ||
| The Slovenian word "obdobje" can also mean "cycle" or "phase". | |||
| Ukrainian | період | ||
| In Ukrainian, the word "період" can also mean "full stop" or "dot". | |||
Period in South Asian Languages
| Bengali | পিরিয়ড | ||
| "Period of times" in Persian means "a particular period" | |||
| Gujarati | સમયગાળો | ||
| The word "period" can also refer to a specific phase or stage in a process or cycle. | |||
| Hindi | अवधि | ||
| The word 'अवधि' (period) in Hindi can also refer to a specific dialect of the Hindi language spoken in the Awadh region of Uttar Pradesh, India. | |||
| Kannada | ಅವಧಿ | ||
| "ಅವಧಿ" (avadhi) also refers to the "expiration time" of a document in Kannada. | |||
| Malayalam | കാലയളവ് | ||
| The word 'കാലയളവ്' ('period') in Malayalam also means 'era', 'time frame', or 'duration'. | |||
| Marathi | कालावधी | ||
| The Marathi word "कालावधी" shares its etymological root "काल" (meaning "time") with the Sanskrit word "काल:", and can also refer to a person's age or the duration of a historical event. | |||
| Nepali | अवधि | ||
| The word 'अवधि' in Nepali can also mean an era or a time period in history. | |||
| Punjabi | ਪੀਰੀਅਡ | ||
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | කාලය | ||
| The term "kālaya" in Sinhala has multiple meanings, including "period of time," "season," and "age," reflecting its temporal and cyclical nature. | |||
| Tamil | காலம் | ||
| The word "காலம்" (period) in Tamil can also refer to "time period", "age", "death", "stage" or "part of a play". | |||
| Telugu | కాలం | ||
| The word "కాలం" in Telugu can also mean "time" or "age". | |||
| Urdu | مدت | ||
| The word 'مدت' (period) in Urdu can also refer to the 'duration of time' or the 'extent of something' | |||
Period in East Asian Languages
| Chinese (Simplified) | 期 | ||
| The character "期" can also refer to a specific time or date, similar to "appointment" or "deadline". | |||
| Chinese (Traditional) | 期 | ||
| The character "期" in Chinese can also refer to time limits, expectations, or a sense of urgency. | |||
| Japanese | 限目 | ||
| 限目 can also mean "the limit of one's eyesight" or "the horizon". | |||
| Korean | 기간 | ||
| The Hanja characters forming "기간" are not related to the word's meaning, but come from the Chinese phrase "其間" meaning "that time". | |||
| Mongolian | хугацаа | ||
| The Mongolian word for "period" (хугацаа) also means "time" or "duration". | |||
| Myanmar (Burmese) | ကာလ | ||
| The word "ကာလ" also means "time" or "duration" in Myanmar (Burmese). | |||
Period in South East Asian Languages
| Indonesian | titik | ||
| "Titik" in Indonesian can also refer to a mole or small spot on the skin. | |||
| Javanese | wektu | ||
| In addition to meaning "period," "wektu" can also mean "time" and "date". | |||
| Khmer | រយៈពេល | ||
| The Khmer word "យៈពេល" can also mean "time" or "duration". | |||
| Lao | ໄລຍະເວລາ | ||
| Malay | tempoh | ||
| The word "tempoh" can also refer to a deadline or a duration of time. | |||
| Thai | งวด | ||
| "งวด" can also mean "phase", "installment", or "an interval used to divide a payment." | |||
| Vietnamese | giai đoạn = stage | ||
| The noun “giai đoạn” originally means “step”. When it’s used as part of a compound noun with a verb, it conveys the meaning of an action carried out in several periods. | |||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | panahon | ||
Period in Central Asian Languages
| Azerbaijani | dövr | ||
| Azerbaijani "dövr" relates to English "devote" via Middle French "devoir" and ultimately derives from Latin "debere" (to owe). | |||
| Kazakh | кезең | ||
| The word "кезең" originally comes from a Turkic root meaning "to cut", and can still mean "piece" or "section" in modern Kazakh. | |||
| Kyrgyz | мезгил | ||
| "Мезгил" also means "fruit season" and "the time when something ripens" in Kyrgyz. | |||
| Tajik | давра | ||
| The word "давра" also means "circle" or "turn" in Tajik. | |||
| Turkmen | döwür | ||
| Uzbek | davr | ||
| In Turkic languages, "davr" originally meant "circle" or "turn". | |||
| Uyghur | مەزگىل | ||
Period in Pacific Languages
| Hawaiian | wā | ||
| The word "wā" can also refer to "time" or "day" in Hawaiian and is related to the root word "awa" which means "space". | |||
| Maori | wā | ||
| The Maori word "wā" can also refer to "day" or "time" and is related to the Proto-Polynesian word "*wa" with similar meanings. | |||
| Samoan | vaitaimi | ||
| The word 'vaitaimi' also refers to menstrual blood in the Samoan language and is related to the Tongan word 'vaitaimi' and Marquesan 'vaitīmi'. | |||
| Tagalog (Filipino) | panahon | ||
| The Philippine term "panahon" originates from "pan" meaning "time interval". | |||
Period in American Indigenous Languages
| Aymara | pacha | ||
| Guarani | arapa'ũ | ||
Period in International Languages
| Esperanto | periodo | ||
| "Periodo" also denotes a punctuation mark in Esperanto, equivalent to the full stop in English. | |||
| Latin | tempus | ||
| In Latin, "tempus" can also refer to the temples of the head, the proper time of a thing, the season of the year, or the right moment for doing something | |||
Period in Others Languages
| Greek | περίοδος | ||
| In ancient Greek, "περίοδος" meant a "circuit" or "revolution". | |||
| Hmong | sij hawm | ||
| "Sij hawm" means both "period" and "the time" in Hmong. | |||
| Kurdish | nixte | ||
| The word nixte, meaning "period", also refers to menstrual blood or a woman's cycle. | |||
| Turkish | dönem | ||
| "Dönem" not only means "period" in Turkish, but also "era", "cycle", "semester", and "turn." | |||
| Xhosa | ixesha | ||
| "Ixhesha," the Xhosa word for "time," is also a term for menstruation, due to the time-bound nature and cyclical characteristics of both. | |||
| Yiddish | פּעריאָד | ||
| The Yiddish word "פּעריאָד" also means "full stop" in English. | |||
| Zulu | isikhathi | ||
| The Zulu word "isikhathi" also means "time" or "season" and is related to the word "isikhathi samabula" which means "harvest time". | |||
| Assamese | সময়কাল | ||
| Aymara | pacha | ||
| Bhojpuri | अवधि | ||
| Dhivehi | ޕީރިއަޑް | ||
| Dogri | म्याद | ||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | panahon | ||
| Guarani | arapa'ũ | ||
| Ilocano | panawen | ||
| Krio | tɛm | ||
| Kurdish (Sorani) | ماوە | ||
| Maithili | काल | ||
| Meiteilon (Manipuri) | ꯃꯇꯝ | ||
| Mizo | hunbi | ||
| Oromo | turtii | ||
| Odia (Oriya) | ଅବଧି | ||
| Quechua | imay pacha | ||
| Sanskrit | कालांशः | ||
| Tatar | период | ||
| Tigrinya | ግዘ | ||
| Tsonga | nkarhi | ||