cycle

cy·cle

1. An interval of time during which a characteristic, often regularly repeated event or sequence of events occurs: Sunspots increase and decrease in intensity in an 11-year cycle.
2. a. A single complete execution of a periodically repeated phenomenon: A year constitutes a cycle of the seasons.
   b. A periodically repeated sequence of events: the cycle of birth, growth, and death; a cycle of reprisal and retaliation.
3. The orbit of a celestial body.
4. A long period of time; an age.
5. a. The aggregate of traditional poems or stories organized around a central theme or hero: the Arthurian cycle.
   b. A series of poems or songs on the same theme: Schubert's song cycles.
6. A bicycle, motorcycle, or similar vehicle.
7. Botany A circular or whorled arrangement of flower parts such as those of petals or sepals.
8. Linguistics In generative grammar, the principle that allows an ordered set of linguistic rules or operations to apply repeatedly to successive stages of a derivation. Often used with the.

1. To occur in or pass through a cycle.
2. To move in or as if in a cycle.
3. To ride a bicycle, motorcycle, or similar vehicle.

Origin: Middle English, from Late Latin cyclus, from Greek kuklos, circle; see k^wel-¹ in Indo-European roots.

Related Forms:

• cyˈcler noun