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time definition

Overview

This page has 57 definitions of time with English translations in 8 languages. Time is a noun, verb, interjection and adverb. Examples of how to use time in a sentence are shown. Also define these 0 related words and terms: .

See also: Time, timé, tìme, and -time

English time definition

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Middle English tyme, time, from Old English tīma (“time, period, space of time, season, lifetime, fixed time, favourable time, opportunity”), from Proto-Germanic *tīmô (“time”), from Proto-Indo-European *deh₂imō, from Proto-Indo-European *deh₂y- (“to divide”). Cognate with Scots tym, tyme (“time”), Alemannic German Zimen, Zīmmän (“time, time of the year, opportune time, opportunity”), Danish time (“hour, lesson”), Swedish timme (“hour”), Norwegian time (“time, hour”), Faroese tími (“hour, lesson, time”), Icelandic tími (“time, season”). Related to tide. Not related to Latin tempus.

Pronunciation

Noun

time (countable and uncountable, plural times)

  1. (uncountable) The inevitable progression into the future with the passing of present and past events.
    Time stops for nobody.   the ebb and flow of time
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:time
    1. (physics, usually uncountable) A dimension of spacetime with the opposite metric signature to space dimensions; the fourth dimension.
      Both science-fiction writers and physicists have written about travel through time.
      • 1895 May 7, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, The Time Machine: An Invention, New York, N.Y.: Henry Holt and Company, OCLC 4701980, page 35:
        So long as I travelled at a high velocity through time, this scarcely mattered; I was, so to speak, attenuated — was slipping like a vapour through the interstices of intervening substances!
      • 2010, Brian Greene, The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory, W. W. Norton & Company →ISBN, page 204
        We all have a visceral understanding of what it means for the universe to have multiple space dimensions, since we live in a world in which we constantly deal with a plurality — three. But what would it mean to have multiple times? Would one align with time as we presently experience it psychologically while the other would somehow be "different"?
    2. (physics, uncountable) Change associated with the second law of thermodynamics; the physical and psychological result of increasing entropy.
      Time slows down when you approach the speed of light.
      • 2012, Robert Zwilling, Natural Sciences and Human Thought, Springer Science & Business Media →ISBN, page 80
        Eventually time would also die because no processes would continue, no light would flow.
      • 2015, Highfield, Arrow Of Time, Random House →ISBN
        Given the connection between increasing entropy and the arrow of time, does the Big Crunch mean that time would run backwards as soon as collapse began?
    3. (physics, uncountable, reductionist definition) The property of a system which allows it to have more than one distinct configuration.
      An essential definition of time should entail neither speed nor direction, just change.
  2. A duration of time.
    1. (uncountable) A quantity of availability of duration.
      More time is needed to complete the project.   You had plenty of time, but you waited until the last minute.   Are you finished yet? Time’s up!
    2. (countable) A measurement of a quantity of time; a numerical or general indication of a length of progression.
      a long time;  Record the individual times for the processes in each batch.   Only your best time is compared with the other competitors.   The algorithm runs in O(n2) time.
      • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter I, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., OCLC 222716698:
        I was about to say that I had known the Celebrity from the time he wore kilts. But I see I will have to amend that, because he was not a celebrity then, nor, indeed, did he achieve fame until some time after I left New York for the West.
      • 1938, Richard Hughes, In Hazard
        The shock of the water, of course, woke him, and he swam for quite a time.
    3. (uncountable, slang) The serving of a prison sentence.
      • 1994, Dana Stabenow, A Cold-Blooded Business, →ISBN, page 64:
        Arrested on duty at Fort Richardson, both parents had worked hard at blaming the other for their son's death, but Kate's meticulous recording of the detail of the bruising found on the child's body and the physical evidence surrounding the scene, plus patient, painstaking interviews with neighbors above and below stairs had resulted in time for both.
      The judge leniently granted a sentence with no hard time.   He is not living at home because he is doing time.
    4. (countable) An experience.
      We had a wonderful time at the party.
    5. (countable) An era; (with the, sometimes in plural) the current era, the current state of affairs.
      Roman times;  the time of the dinosaurs
    6. (uncountable, with possessive) A person's youth or young adulthood, as opposed to the present day.
      In my time, we respected our elders.
    7. (only in singular, sports and figuratively) Time out; temporary, limited suspension of play.
  3. An instant of time.
    1. (uncountable) How much of a day has passed; the moment, as indicated by a clock or similar device.
      Excuse me, have you got the time?   What time is it, do you guess? Ten o’clock?   A computer keeps time using a clock battery.
      • 2013 July 19, Ian Sample, “Irregular bedtimes may affect children's brains”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 6, page 34:
        Irregular bedtimes may disrupt healthy brain development in young children, according to a study of intelligence and sleeping habits.  ¶ Going to bed at a different time each night affected girls more than boys, but both fared worse on mental tasks than children who had a set bedtime, researchers found.
    2. (countable) A particular moment or hour; the appropriate moment or hour for something (especially with prepositional phrase or imperfect subjunctive).
      it’s time for bed;  it’s time to sleep;  we must wait for the right time;  it's time we were going
    3. (countable) A numerical indication of a particular moment.
      at what times do the trains arrive?;  these times were erroneously converted between zones
    5. (countable) An instance or occurrence.
      When was the last time we went out? I don’t remember.
      see you another time;  that’s three times he’s made the same mistake
      Okay, but this is the last time. No more after that!
      • 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 2, in The Celebrity:
        Sunning himself on the board steps, I saw for the first time Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke. He was dressed out in broad gaiters and bright tweeds, like an English tourist, and his face might have belonged to Dagon, idol of the Philistines.
      • 2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)
        One more time.
        Audio (US)(file)
    6. (UK, in public houses) Closing time.
      Last call: it's almost time.
    7. The hour of childbirth.
    8. (as someone's time) The end of someone's life, conceived by the speaker as having been predestined.
      It was his time.
  4. (countable) The measurement under some system of region of day or moment.
    Let's synchronize our watches so we're not on different time.
  5. (countable) Ratio of comparison.
    your car runs three times faster than mine;  that is four times as heavy as this
  6. (grammar, dated) Tense.
    the time of a verb
    • 1823, Lindley Murray, Key to the Exercises Adapted to Murray's English Grammar, Fortland, page 53f.:
      Though we have, in the notes under the thirteenth rule of the Grammar, explained in general the principles, on which the time of a verb in the infinitive mood may be ascertained, and its form determined; [...]
    • 1829, Benjamin A. Gould, Adam's Latin Grammar, Boston, page 153:
      The participles of the future time active, and perfect passive, when joined with the verb esse, were sometimes used as indeclinable; thus, [...]
  7. (music) The measured duration of sounds; measure; tempo; rate of movement; rhythmical division.
    common or triple time;   the musician keeps good time.

Usage notes

For the number of occurrences and the ratio of comparison, once and twice are typically used instead of one time and two times. Thrice is uncommon but not obsolescent, and is still common in Indian English.[1]

Typical collocations with time or time expressions.

  • spend - To talk about the length of time of an activity.
- We spent a long time driving along the motorway.
- I've spent most of my life working here. (Time expression)
  • take - To talk about the length of time of an activity.
- It took a long time to get to the front of the queue. See also - take one's time
- It only takes five minutes to get to the shop from here. (Time expression)
- How long does it take to do that? (Time expression)

Quotations

Hyponyms

Hyponyms of time (proper names)
 
Other hyponyms of time
 

Derived terms

 

Related terms

 
Terms related to time that are not nouns
 

Descendants

  • → Persian: تایم‎ (tâym)
  • Sranan Tongo: ten

Translations

See time/translations § Noun.

Verb

time (third-person singular simple present times, present participle timing, simple past and past participle timed)

  1. To measure or record the time, duration, or rate of.
    I used a stopwatch to time myself running around the block.
  2. To choose when something begins or how long it lasts.
    The President timed his speech badly, coinciding with the Super Bowl.
    The bomb was timed to explode at 9:20 p.m.
    • 1625, Francis [Bacon], “(please specify the chapter)”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, OCLC 863521290:
      There is surely no greater wisdom than well to time the beginnings and onsets of things.
  3. (obsolete) To keep or beat time; to proceed or move in time.
  4. (obsolete) To pass time; to delay.
  5. To regulate as to time; to accompany, or agree with, in time of movement.
  6. To measure, as in music or harmony.

Synonyms

  • (to measure time): clock
  • (to choose the time for): set

Derived terms

 

Descendants

Translations

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Dictionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Interjection

time

  1. (tennis) Reminder by the umpire for the players to continue playing after their pause.
  2. The umpire's call in prizefights, etc.
  3. A call by a bartender to warn patrons that the establishment is closing and no more drinks will be served.

See also

References

  1. ^ James Lambert, 2012, 'Diachronic stability in Indian English lexis' World Englishes Vol. 31, issue 1, page 112-127. [1]

Further reading

Anagrams

Danish time definition

Etymology 1

From Old Norse tími, from Proto-Germanic *tīmô (“time”), cognate with Swedish timme, English time. From Proto-Indo-European *deh₂y-, specifically Proto-Indo-European *deh₂imō. The Germanic noun *tīdiz (“time”) is derived from the same root.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈtiːmə/, [ˈtˢiːmə], [ˈtsʰiːm̩]

Noun

time c (singular definite timen, plural indefinite timer)

  1. hour
  2. lesson, class
Inflection
Declension of time
common
gender 		Singular Plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative time timen timer timerne
genitive times timens timers timernes

References

Etymology 2

Borrowed from English time.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /tajmə/, [ˈtˢɑjmə], (imperative) IPA(key): /tajˀm/, [ˈtˢɑjˀm],

Verb

time (past tense timede, past participle timet)

  1. to time
Inflection
Inflection of time
present past
simple timer timede
perfect har timet havde timet
passive times timedes
participle - timet
imperative time —
infinitive time —
auxiliary verb have —
gerund — —

References

Esperanto time definition

Etymology

From tim- +‎ -e.

Pronunciation

Adverb

time

  1. fearfully

Latin time definition

Verb

timē

  1. second-person singular present active imperative of timeō

References

  • “time”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers

Middle English time definition

Etymology 1

Noun

time

  1. Alternative form of tyme (“time”)

Etymology 2

Noun

time

  1. Alternative form of tyme (“thyme”)

Norwegian Bokmål time definition

Etymology

From Old Norse tími, from Proto-Germanic *tīmô (“time”), from Proto-Indo-European *deh₂y-, specifically Proto-Indo-European *deh₂imō.

Noun

time m (definite singular timen, indefinite plural timer, definite plural timene)

  1. an hour
  2. a lesson, class

Derived terms

 

References

Norwegian Nynorsk time definition

Etymology

From Old Norse tími, from Proto-Germanic *tīmô (“time”), from Proto-Indo-European *deh₂imō, from *deh₂y- (“to share, divide”). Akin to English time.

Pronunciation

Noun

time m (definite singular timen, indefinite plural timar, definite plural timane)

  1. an hour
  2. a lesson, class
  3. an appointment
    Eg har ein time hjå tannlegen. ― I have an appointment at the dentists.
  4. time, moment (mainly poetic)
    • 1945, Jakob Sande, "Da Daniel drog":
      No er timen komen, Daniel!
      Now the time has come, Daniel!

Derived terms

 

References

Old Swedish time definition

Etymology

From Old Norse tími, from Proto-Germanic *tīmô.

Noun

tīme m

  1. time
  2. hour
  3. occasion

Declension

Declension of tīme (an-stem)
singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative tīme tīmen tīmar tīmarnir
accusative tīma tīman tīma tīmana
dative tīma tīmanom tīmom tīmonom
genitive tīma tīmans tīma tīmanna

Descendants

Portuguese time definition

Etymology

Borrowed from English team, from Middle English teme, from Old English tēam (“child-bearing, offspring, brood, set of draught animals”), from Proto-Germanic *taumaz (“that which draws or pulls”), from Proto-Germanic *taugijaną, *tugōną, *teuhōną, *teuhaną (“to lead, bring, pull, draw”), from Proto-Indo-European *dewk- (“to pull, lead”).

Pronunciation

Noun

time m (plural times)

  1. (Brazil, chiefly sports) a team
    Synonyms: (Portugal) equipa, (Brazil) equipe
  2. (Brazil, informal) sexual orientation

Scots time definition

Noun

time (plural times)

  1. time

Spanish time definition

Verb

time

  1. inflection of timar:
    1. first-person singular present subjunctive
    2. third-person singular present subjunctive
    3. third-person singular imperative
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