Periodic

The characteristic ascribed to a variable which repeats any value it attains at regular intervals of time called a period; that is, it describes an oscillation that passes repeatedly through maximum and minimum values at the same rate. Periodic waveforms have a pitch associated with them.

Conversely, aperiodic waveforms have no such regularity or periodicity and may have ambiguous pitch (see inharmonic) or may be classified as noise. See: Broad Band Noise, Random Noise.

See: Complex Tone, Cycle, Fourier Analysis, Fourier Theorem, Frequency, Modulation, Rhythm, Simple Harmonic Motion.