time 
3. A part of time considered as distinct from 
other parts, whether past, present, or future, 
and particularly as charaeteri/.ed by the .>,<. ur- 
rence of some event or series of events ; es- 
pecially, the period in which some notable per- 
son, or the person under consideration, lived en- 
was active; age; epoch: as, the time of the 
flood, of Abraham, or of Moses: often in the 
plural: as, tho times of the Pharaohs. 
Also ho lalth for certayn that in his tyme he had a trend 
that was auneycnt it old, which rrcouritt-d for trout h that 
in hys dayes he hadd seen many tymes such thinges. 
Rom. of ParUtiay. 
To hold, as 'twere, the mirror up to nature; to show 
. . . the very age and body of the time his furni and pres- 
sure. Shak., Hamlet, 111. 2. 27. 
The same times that are most renowned for arms are 
likewise most admired for learning. 
HacoH, Advancement of Learning, I. 18. 
Was It [the Christian reliKlon] not then remarkable In 
IU first titan for justice, sincerity, contempt of riches, 
and a kind of generous honesty? 
Stillingfieet. Sermons, I. III. 
From 1813 to 1815 ... the island was under English 
rule, and the time of English rule was looked on as a tone 
of freedom, compared with French rule before or with 
Austrian rule both before and after. 
E. A. Freeman, Venice, p. 206. 
4. Appointed, allotted, or customary period of 
years, months, days, hours, etc. Specifically (a) 
Allotted span ; the present life as distinct from the life 
to come, or from eternity ; existence In this world ; the 
duration of a being. 
Make use of time as thou valuest eternity. Fuller, 
(b) The space of time needed or occupied in the comple- 
tion of some course ; the Interval that elapses between 
the beginning and the end of something : as, the time be- 
tween New York and (jueenstown is now about six days; 
the race finished at noon: time, three hours and seven min- 
utes. (<) The period of gestation ; also, the natural ter- 
mination of that period. 
Now Elisabeth's full time came that she should be de- 
livered ; and she brought forth a son. Luke 1. 67. 
Si) The period of an apprenticeship, or of some similarly 
eflnite engagement : as, the boy served his time with 
A. B. ; to be out of one's time (that is, to cease being an ap- 
prentice, be a journeyman). [Colloq.) 
The apprentice might wear his cap In his master's pres- 
ence during the last year of his time. 
J. Athlon, Social Life In Kelgn of Queen Anne, I. 82. 
( ) A term of imprisonment : as, to do time in the peni- 
tentiary. [Colloq.] 
6. Available or disposable part or period of 
duration; leisure; sufficiency or convenience 
of time; hence, opportunity: as, to give one 
time to finish his remark ; to have no time for 
such things ; to ask for time. 
Daniel . . . desired of the king that he would give him 
time. I '.HI. II. 16. 
I like this place, 
And willingly would waste my time In It. 
Shak., As you Like it, il. 4. 95. 
Shun. Why, he's of years, though he have little beard. 
P. sen. His beard haa time to grow. 
11. JortoH, Staple of News, ii. 1. 
Sir Oliver S. Moses shall give me farther Instructions 
as we go together. 
Sir Peter. You will not have much time, for your nephew 
lives hard by. Sheridan, School for Scandal, 111. 1. 
6. A suitable or appropriate point or part of 
time; fitting season : as. a time for everything; 
a time to weep and a time to laugh. 
Now Is tyme, zit It lyke zon, for to telle zou of the 
Marches and lies, and dyverse Bestes, and of dyverse folk 
bezond theise Marches. Mandcriile, Travels, p. 142. 
Slgnior, this is no timr for you to flatter, 
Or me to fool in. Fletcher, Double Marriage, I. _'. 
7. Particular or definite point of time; precise 
hour or moment: as, the time of day; what is 
the time? choose your own timi . 
Att that ii/inf owt of the prese thel were, 
To rest them self a season to endure, 
Ther eche to other told his aventur. 
Oenerydcs (E. E. T. S.X 1. 2595. 
Well, he is gone ; he knoweth his fare by this time. 
Latimer, 4th Sermon bef. Edw. VI., 1549. 
God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake 
in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath In 
these last days spoken unto us by his Son. Heb. 1. 1. 
Good sister, when you see your own time, will you re- 
turn home? Beau, and /'/., Woman-Hater, II. 1. 
I shall cut your Throat some time or other, Petulant, 
about that Business. Congreoe, Way of the World, i. 9. 
8. An appointed, fixed, or inevitable point or 
moment of time ; especially, the hour of one's 
departure or death. 
His time was come ; he ran his race. 
Sictft, Death of Dr. Swift 
9. A mode of occupying time; also, what oc- 
curs in a particular time. 
I in thinking (and it almost makes me mad) 
How sweet a time those he:it lit 1 M Indies had. . . . 
Cupid ws chief of all the deities, 
And love was all the fashion in the skies. 
Dryden, Epil. to Amphitryon, or the Two Soslas. 
0341 
10. The state of things at a particular point of 
time; prevailing state of circumstances: gen- 
erally in the plural: as, hard timi*. 
Good men, by their gouernment and example, make 
happie times, In eucry degree and state. 
Atcham, The Scholemaiter, p. 133. 
They (the Jews] can subject themselves unto timet, and 
to whatsoever may advance their pront. 
Sandy*, Travailcs, p. 114. 
The timei are dull with us. The assemblies are In their 
recess. 
Washington, quoted In Bancroft's Hist. Const., I. 453. 
11. All time to come ; the future. [Rare.] 
That brought you forth this boy, to keep your name 
Living to Nine. Shale., Cur, V. 3. 127. 
12. Reckoning, or method of reckoning, the 
lapse or course of time: with a qualifying word: 
as, standard time; mean time; solar or sidereal 
time. 13. Recurrent instance or occasion : 
as, many a time has he stood there; hence, 
a repeated item or sum; a single addition or 
involution in reckoning; repetition: as, four 
times four (four repetitions of four). 
The good wljf taujte hlr doujtlr 
Ful manye a tyme & ofte 
A lul good womman to be. 
Babeet Boolc(K. E. T. S.), p. 36. 
There were we beaten three timet a weeke with a horse 
tayle. B. Webbe, Travels (ed. Arber), p. 18. 
Many a time and oft 
In the Rialto you have rated me 
About my moneys and my usances. 
Ska*., M. of V., L 8. 107. 
14f. Tune; measure. 
I have prepar'd 
Choice music near her cabinet, and compos'd 
Some few lines, set unto a solemn time, 
In the praise of imprisonment. 
Fletcher (and another), False One, I. -.'. 
I must fit all these limes, or there ' no music. 
Middletm, Chaste Maid, IL 3. 
15. In music: (a) Same as rhythm: as, duple 
time ; triple time; common time, (b) Same as 
duration, especially in metrical relations: as, 
to hold a tone its full time, (e) Same as tempo 1 : 
as, to sing a gong in quick timr. (il) The gen- 
eral movement of a form of composition or of 
a particular piece, involving its rhythm, its gen- 
eral metrical structure, and its characteristic 
tempo. 16. In pros., relative duration of ut- 
terance as measuring metrical composition ; a 
unit of rhythmic measurement, or a group or 
succession of such units, applicable to or ex- 
pressed in language. In modern or accentual poetry 
the relative time of utterance of successive syllables Is not 
recognized metrically. Every syllable may be considered 
as quantitatively common or indifferent in time, the only 
dilf erence taken into account being that of stress or ac- 
cent (IctusX and the number of syllables alone introducing 
the Idea of measurement. In ancient prosody a unit of 
time is assumed (varying in actual duration according to 
the tempo), called the primary or leatt (minimum) time 
(ypopoc vpu>T<K, c'AaxcaTo), also gemfion or mora, or, spe- 
cifically, a Nine. A time composed of two, three, etc., pri- 
mary times (seuieia) la called aduemic, trinemic, etc., time. 
Such times collectively are compound times, as opposed to 
the primary time as a simple time. As expressed in lan- 
guage, a simple or compound time is a syllable, a simple 
time being regularly represented by a short syllable, a 
compound time by a (disemic, trisemic, etc.) long, usually 
disemic. A time which can be measured In terms of the 
unit Is a rational time; one which cannot be so measured, 
an irrational time. A compound time In a poetic text 
may correspond to several simple times In the accompany- 
ing music or orchesis, and vice versa. Similarly a simple 
or compound time in the rhythm jnay be unrepresented 
by a syllable or syllables in the text, and is then called an 
empty time, or pause. Times combine Into pedal semeia 
(thesis and arsis), feet, and cola, all of which are called 
pedal times. These are measured in terms of the primary 
time, but not periods, etc. 
17. laphren., one of the perceptive faculties. 
IU alleged organ Is situated on either side of eventuality. 
This gives the power of judging of time, and of Intervals 
in general, supposed to be essential to music and versi- 
fication. See phrenology. 
18. One of the three dramatic unities formerly 
considered essential in the classical drama. 
The unity of time consisted In keeping the period em- 
braced In the action of the piece within the limit of 
twenty-four hours. See unity. 
19. In fencing, a division of a movement. Thus, 
the lunge may be analyzed into three times fl) straight- 
ening the sword arm ; (2) carrying the sword-point for- 
ward by advancing the right foot ; (3) returning foot and 
hand to the correct position on guard. Absolute time. 
See absolute. Against time. SeeagainsL A good time. 
in) A favorable time or opportunity. (6) A pleasant or en- 
oyaule period or experience ; also a fine time : often used 
ronlcally. (Colloq.] A high time. See high. Appa- 
rent time, the measure of the day by the apparent posi- 
tions of the sun : It haa had different varieties, but as now 
spoken of by astronomers it is determined by apparent 
noon, or the instant of passage of the center of the sun 
over the meridian. Astronomical time, mean solar 
time reckoned from noon through the twenty-four hours. 
At the same time. See tame. At times, at distinct 
intervals of duration. 
The Spirit of the Lord began to move him at time*. 
Judges xill. 25. 
time 
Before timet, formerly ; aforetime. See be/oretinu. 
If he bane not be malre by.fi/re tyme, then he to come 
withoute any cloke, In his skarlet gounr. 
Knytish GOds (F. E. T. 8.), p. 41*. 
Behind tho times, behind time. Hec behind. ClTil 
time, mean time adapted to civil uses, and distinguished 
Into yean, months, days, etc. Close time. See close- 
ftW.-Cocluhut timet. See eueJrMut.- Commontlme. 
(a) Milit., the ordinary time taken In marching, distin- 
guished from futdr (t'me, which Is faster by alKUit tM.nn 
steps a minute, (b) In mime. See common. Compound 
time. See compound measure, under c<>i/i/,wij(/. Equa- 
tion Of time. See equation. Equinoctial time, the 
mean longitude of the sun according to Uelamnre'a tablet, 
converted Into time at the rate of 860' to the tropical 
year. This system was Invented by Sir John F. W. Herschel. 
From time to time, occasionally. Greenwich time, 
time as reckoned from the Instant of the passage of the 
sun's center over the meridian of Greenwich near London, 
England, hence usually called the fnt meridian. Green- 
wich time Is the time most widely used by mariners In 
computing latitude and longitude. Bard times, :i[ r io.l 
of diminished production, falling prices hesitation or un- 
willingness to engage In new business enterprises, and de- 
clining faith In the prosperity and soundness of old ones. 
Our greatest benefactors . . . must now turn beggars 
like myself; and so, timet are very hard, sir. 
Fargtihar, Love and a Bottle, L 1. 
High time, full time, a limit of time which It not to be 
exceeded. 
It Is high time to wake out of sleep. Rom. xlii. 11. 
In good time, (a) At the right moment ; In good season ; 
hence, fortunately ; happily ; luckily. 
In good time, here comes the noble duke. 
5Aa*., Rich. III., II. 1. 45. 
I-ear. I gave yon all 
Reg. And in good time you gave It. 
Shalt, Lear, Ii. 4. 253. 
My distresses are so many that I can't afford to part 
with my spirits ; but I shall be rich and splenetic, all in 
good time. Sheridan, School for Scandal, Iv. 1. 
(6t) Well and good ; just so ; very well. 
"There," salth he, "even at this day are (hewed the 
rulnes of those three tabernacles built according to Pe- 
ter's desire." In very good time, no doubt ! 
Fuller, Plsgah Sight, IL vl. 27. (Danes ) 
In the nick of time. See met*, . In time, (a) In 
good season ; at the right moment ; sufficiently early ; 
before it Is too late. 
Good king, look to t in time ; 
She'll hamper thee. Shak., 2 Hen. VI. , L 3. 147. 
(6) In the course of things ; by degrees ; eventually. 
In time the rod 
Becomes more mock'd than fear'd. 
Shale., M. for M., I. S. 26. 
Local time, time at any place as determined by the pas- 
sage of the mean sun (or Drat point of Aries for sidereal 
time) over the meridian of that place. Owing to the 
adoption of Greenwich mean time by British railways, 
of Paris time by French railways, of some central time In 
certain other countries, and of standard time by the rail- 
ways of the I'nited States and Canada, and their general 
adoption in business centers, local time is now seldom 
kept in those countrles.--Mean time. See mean*. 
Merry timet. See merry!. Nautical time. Same as 
astronomical time, except that the date of the day agrees 
with the civil or ordinary time for the morning hours, 
while with astronomical time the date is in the afternoon 
hours the same as in civil time. Old time, or old times, 
time gone by ; a date or period long passed. 
Is there any thing whereof It may be said, See, this Is 
new? It hath been already of old time, which was before 
us. EccL I. 10. 
Out Of time, or out Of due time, unseasonably. 
The Nlnevites rebuked not Jonah that he lacked dis- 
cretion, or that he spake out of time. 
Latimer, Sermon bef. Edw. VI., 1550. 
One born out of due time. 1 Cor. xv. & 
Physiological, psychophyslcal, quadruple, quintu- 
ple, relative time. See the adjectives.- Railway time, 
the standard of time-reekoning adopted by railways In mak- 
ing up their time-tablet. Retardation of mean solar 
time. See retardation Sextuple time. See sextuple. 
Sidereal time. Bee sidereal. Solar time. Same as 
apparent time. Standard time, a uniform system of 
time-reckoning adopted in 1883 by the principal railways 
of the United States and Canada, and since then by most 
of the large cities and towns of both countries. By this 
system the continent is divided into four sections, etch 
extending over 16 degrees of longitude (15 degrees of 
longitude making a difference in time of exactly one 
hour), the time prevailing in each section being that of Its 
central meridian that is, the time of the 75th meridian 
(called eastern time) prevails in the first section ; the time 
of the 90th meridian (called central time) prevails In the 
next section; the time of the KiMh meridian (called 
mountain time) prevails in the third section ; and the 
time of the 120th meridian (called Pacific time) prevails 
In the fourth and most westerly section. In this way it is 
noon at the same moment in all places in the eastern 
section (that Is, from 71 degrees east of the 75th meridian 
to 7) degrees west of it), while In the central section It Is 
11 o'clock. In the mountain section 10 o'clock, and In the 
Pacific section 9 o'clock. The nearer a place Is to Us cen- 
tral meridian the smaller is the discrepancy between Its 
standard and its local time. Term time. See term, 6 
(6). That timet, then. 
Gaffray that tyme, enbrasing shild and targe. 
By malice and wreth his spere faste he shoke, 
His coursere spored, no fentise on hym toke. 
Horn, of Partenay (E. E. T. 8.\ 1. 4212. 
The fullness of time. See /<. The lart times. 
See tost*. The time compass. See compost. Time 
about, alternately. Time enough. In season; early 
enough. 
