cyclical

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *kʷelh₁-redup.

Proto-Indo-European *-os

Proto-Indo-European *kʷékʷlos

Proto-Hellenic *kʷókʷlos

Proto-Hellenic *kúklos

Ancient Greek κύκλος (kúklos)

Proto-Indo-European *-kos

Proto-Hellenic *-kos

Ancient Greek -κός (-kós)

Ancient Greek -ικός (-ikós)

Ancient Greek κυκλῐκός (kuklĭkós)bor.

Classical Latin cyclicuslbor.

Middle French cyclique

French cycliquebor.

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Classical Latin cyclicusbor.

English cyclic

Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-

Proto-Indo-European *-is

Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.?

Proto-Italic *-ālis

Latin -ālislbor.

Old French -albor.

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Latin -ālis

Old French -elbor.

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Latin -ālisbor.

Middle English -al

English -al

English cyclical

From cyclic + -al.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsaɪklɪkəl/, /ˈsɪklɪkəl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Adjective

cyclical (comparative more cyclical, superlative most cyclical)

1. Recurring at regular intervals.

   Alternative form: cyclic

   Synonyms: periodic; see also Thesaurus:periodic

   • 2021 December 1, Charles Hugh Smith, The Long Cycles Have All Turned: Look Out Below‎^[1], archived from the original on 30 September 2026:

     Nobody thinks the cyclical turn is possible until it's already well underway.

2. (botany) Rolled up circularly.

   a cyclical embryo

Derived terms

• acyclical
• anticyclical
• contracyclical
• countercyclical
• cyclical date
• cyclicalism
• cyclicality
• cyclically
• cyclical unemployment
• cyclical vomiting syndrome
• epicyclical
• heterocyclical
• homocyclical
• intercyclical
• intracyclical
• noncyclical
• polycyclical
• procyclical

Related terms

• cyclicism

Translations

recurring at regular intervals — see also cyclic

• Finnish: syklinen (fi), jaksoittainen (fi)
• German: zyklisch (de)
• Irish: rialta, féiltiúil
• Persian: چرخه‌ای (čarxe-'i)
• Scottish Gaelic: cearclach
• Spanish: cíclico (es)

Noun

cyclical (plural cyclicals)

1. (finance, often in the plural) A stock of a cyclical company.

Related terms

• encyclical (noun)

See also

• periodical (noun)