acyclic

The term acyclic is not part of the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE). However, its use is frequent to refer to that which is neither produced nor developed cyclically.

To understand what something acyclical is, therefore, one must first know what the notion of cyclic. The cyclical, in turn, is linked to a cycle.

At this point, focus on the concept of cycle. This idea may refer to a time period that, when it ends, is re-counted; to a set of phenomena that are repeated in an orderly way; to a series of periodic phases; or to a block or group of events or activities that maintain a certain relationship with each other.

A cyclical sport, for example, is characterized by the development of a simple movement that ends in the same position where it started and then starts again. On the contrary, a acyclic sport is defined by execution of alternating movements that can reach maximum intensity.

In cyclical sports there are movements in the same direction; in acyclic sports, on the other hand, there are changes in direction and intensity. The Athletics is a cyclical sport, while the football it is an acyclic sport.

The expression directed acyclic graph, on the other hand, is used in math and the computer's science to name the directed graph that lacks cycles: this means that for each vertex v there is no direct route that begins and ends in v.