- published: 29 Jun 2014
- views: 1496219
A full stop ( . ) (British, New Zealand and Australian English) or period (American English and Canadian English) is the punctuation mark commonly placed at the end of sentences. In the 21st century, it is sometimes called a dot. In conversation, as opposed to linguistics, the term is often used to mean "the end of the matter." (For example, "We are calling a full stop to discussions on this subject.")
The full stop symbol derives from Aristophanes of Byzantium who invented the system of punctuation where the height of placement of a dot on the line determined its meaning. The high dot (˙) was called a "periodos" and indicated a finished thought or sentence, the middle dot (·) was called a "kolon" and indicated part of a complete thought, while the low dot (.) was called a "telia" and also indicated part of a complete thought.
A period is used after some abbreviations. If the abbreviation ends a declaratory sentence there is no additional period immediately following the full stop that ends the abbreviation (e.g., My name is Gabriel Gama, Jr.) This is called haplography. Though two periods (one for the abbreviation, one for the sentence ending) might be expected, conventionally only one is written. In the case of an interrogative or exclamatory sentence ending with an abbreviation, a question or exclamation mark can still be added (e.g., Are you Gabriel Gama, Jr.?).
Period (from Greek περίοδος) or periodic may also refer to: