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Etymology data from Wiktionary via Wiktextract (CC BY-SA 4.0). Chinese character data from the 說文解字, the Taiwan MOE 國語辭典簡編本 (CC BY-ND 3.0 TW) and HSK/TOCFL lists.

Explanations are written by a local model (gemma4) and only published after a verification pass against the cited sources. How it works.

English

time

/taɪm/
The inevitable progression into the future with the passing of present and past events.

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    • derived
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    • meaning component
    • sound component
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    Origin

    From Middle English tyme, time, from Old English tīma (“time, period, space of time, season, lifetime, fixed time, favorable time, opportunity”), from Proto-West Germanic *tīmō, from Proto-Germanic *tīmô (“time”), from Proto-Indo-European *deh₂imō, from Proto-Indo-European *deh₂y- (“to divide”). Related to tide. Not related to Latin tempus.

    Cognates

    * Scots tym, tyme (“time”)

    * Alemannic German Zimen, Zīmmän (“time, time of the year, opportune time, opportunity”)

    * Danish time (“hour, lesson”)

    * Elfdalian taime (“hour”)

    * Faroese tími (“hour, lesson, time”)

    * Icelandic tími (“time, season”)

    * Norwegian time (“lesson, hour”)

    * Swedish timma, timme (“hour”).

    From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

    Lineage

    • inheritedMiddle Englishtyme
      • inheritedOld Englishtīma
        • inheritedProto-West Germanic*tīmō
          • inheritedProto-Germanic*tīmô “time”
            • derivedProto-Indo-European*deh₂imō
              • derivedProto-Indo-European*deh₂y- “to divide”
                • derivedProto-Indo-European*deh₂- “to divide, share”

    Related: Scots tym, Alemannic German Zimen, Danish time, Elfdalian taime, Faroese tími, Icelandic tími, Norwegian time, Swedish timma

    Words built on it: all-time, time-out, over-time, time-use, part-time, between-time, old-time, full-time, run time, whole-time, half-time, past-time

    Meanings

    noun
    1. The inevitable progression into the future with the passing of present and past events.
    2. The feeling of the passage of events and their relative duration, as experienced by an individual.
    3. A dimension of spacetime with the opposite metric signature to space dimensions; the fourth dimension.
    4. Change associated with the second law of thermodynamics; the physical and psychological result of increasing entropy.
    5. The property of a system which allows it to have more than one distinct configuration.
    6. A quantity of availability of duration.
    verb
    1. To measure or record the time, duration, or rate of something.
    2. To choose when something commences or its duration.
    3. To keep or beat time; to proceed or move in time.
    4. 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.
    intj
    1. 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.

    Sources

    • Wiktionary (via Wiktextract / kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0
    • Wiktionary: time