What does time mean?

What does time mean?. The world's largest and most trusted free online dictionary: definitions, synonyms, word origins, example sentences, word games, and more.

What does time mean? - The Free Dictionary

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[n] an instance or single occasion for some event(this time he succeeded he called four times he could do ten at a clip)[v] measure the time or duration of an event or action or the person who performs an action in a certain period of time(he clocked the runners)[n] a period of time consid

time

time - The Free Dictionary

[n] an instance or single occasion for some event
(this time he succeeded he called four times he could do ten at a clip)

[v] measure the time or duration of an event or action or the person who performs an action in a certain period of time
(he clocked the runners)

[n] a period of time considered as a resource under your control and sufficient to accomplish something
(take time to smell the roses I didn't have time to finish it took more than half my time)

[v] assign a time for an activity or event
(The candidate carefully timed his appearance at the disaster scene)

[n] an indefinite period (usually marked by specific attributes or activities)
(he waited a long time the time of year for planting he was a great actor in his time)

[v] set the speed, duration, or execution of
(we time the process to manufacture our cars very precisely)

[n] a suitable moment
(it is time to go)

[v] regulate or set the time of
(time the clock)

[n] the continuum of experience in which events pass from the future through the present to the past

[v] adjust so that a force is applied and an action occurs at the desired time
(The good player times his swing so as to hit the ball squarely)

[n] a person's experience on a particular occasion
(he had a time holding back the tears they had a good time together)

[n] a reading of a point in time as given by a clock
(do you know what time it is? the time is 10 o'clock)

[n] the fourth coordinate that is required (along with three spatial dimensions) to specify a physical event

[n] rhythm as given by division into parts of equal duration

[n] the period of time a prisoner is imprisoned
(he served a prison term of 15 months his sentence was 5 to 10 years he is doing time in the county jail)

Other vocabulary

'tween, 'tween decks, t, t cell, t hinge, t lymphocyte, t'ai chi, t'ai chi chuan, t'ien-ching, t-bar, t-bar lift, t-bill, t-bone steak, t-junction, t-man, t-network, t-scope, t-shaped, t-shirt, t-square, t. e. lawrence, t. h. white, t. s. eliot, t.b., ta, ta'ziyeh, taal, tab, tab key, tabanidae, i, i chronicles, i corinthians, i esdra, i john, i kings, i maccabees, i peter, i samuel, i thessalonians, i timothy, i-beam, i. a. richards, i. f. stone, i. m. pei, i.d., i.e., i.e.d., i.q., i.w.w., ia, iaa, iaea, iago, iamb, iambic, iambus, ian douglas smith, ian fleming, ian lancaster fleming

Dictionary

A dictionary is a listing of lexemes from the lexicon of one or more specific languages, often arranged alphabetically (or by consonantal root for Semitic languages or radical and stroke for ideographic languages), which may include information on definitions, usage, etymologies, pronunciations, translation, etc. It is a lexicographical reference that shows inter-relationships among the data.

A broad distinction is made between general and specialized dictionaries. Specialized dictionaries include words in specialist fields, rather than a complete range of words in the language. Lexical items that describe concepts in specific fields are usually called terms instead of words, although there is no consensus whether lexicology and terminology are two different fields of study. In theory, general dictionaries are supposed[citation needed] to be semasiological, mapping word to definition, while specialized dictionaries are supposed to be onomasiological, first identifying concepts and then establishing the terms used to designate them. In practice, the two approaches are used for both types. There are other types of dictionaries that do not fit neatly into the above distinction, for instance bilingual (translation) dictionaries, dictionaries of synonyms (thesauri), and rhyming dictionaries. The word dictionary (unqualified) is usually understood to refer to a general purpose monolingual dictionary.

There is also a contrast between prescriptive or descriptive dictionaries; the former reflect what is seen as correct use of the language while the latter reflect recorded actual use. Stylistic indications (e.g. "informal" or "vulgar") in many modern dictionaries are also considered by some to be less than objectively descriptive.

The first recorded dictionaries date back to Sumerian times around 2300 BCE, in the form of bilingual dictionaries, and the oldest surviving monolingual dictionaries are Chinese dictionaries c. 3rd century BCE. The first purely English alphabetical dictionary was A Table Alphabeticall, written in 1604, and monolingual dictionaries in other languages also began appearing in Europe at around this time. The systematic study of dictionaries as objects of scientific interest arose as a 20th-century enterprise, called lexicography, and largely initiated by Ladislav Zgusta. The birth of the new discipline was not without controversy, with the practical dictionary-makers being sometimes accused by others of having an "astonishing" lack of method and critical-self reflection.