- periodic (adj.)
[periodic 词源字典]
- 1640s, from French périodique (14c.), from Latin periodicus, from periodus (see period).
Periodic table in chemistry (1889) is from notion of the arrangement, in which similar properties recur at intervals in elements in the same area as you read down the rows of the table. This sense of the word is attested from 1872 (periodic law).[periodic etymology, periodic origin, 英语词源]