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Time vs. Period — What's the Difference?

Time vs. Period — What's the Difference?

Difference Between Time and Period

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Time

Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to compare the duration of events or the intervals between them, and to quantify rates of change of quantities in material reality or in the conscious experience.

Period

An interval of time characterized by the occurrence of a certain condition, event, or phenomenon
A period of economic prosperity.

Time

The indefinite continued progress of existence and events in the past, present, and future regarded as a whole
Travel through space and time
One of the greatest wits of all time

Period

An interval of time characterized by the prevalence of a specified culture, ideology, or technology
Artifacts of the pre-Columbian period.

Time

A point of time as measured in hours and minutes past midnight or noon
The time is 9.30
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Period

An interval regarded as a distinct evolutionary or developmental phase
Picasso's early career is divided into his blue period and rose period.

Time

Time as allotted, available, or used
It would be a waste of time
We need more time

Period

(Geology) A unit of time, longer than an epoch and shorter than an era.

Time

An instance of something happening or being done; an occasion
This is the first time I have got into debt
The nurse came in four times a day

Period

Any of the divisions of the academic day.

Time

(following a number) expressing multiplication
Eleven times four is forty-four

Period

Sports & Games A division of the playing time of a game.

Time

The rhythmic pattern of a piece of music, as expressed by a time signature
Tunes in waltz time

Period

Physics & Astronomy The time interval between two successive occurrences of a recurrent event or phases of an event; a cycle
The period of a satellite's orbit.

Time

Plan, schedule, or arrange when (something) should happen or be done
The bomb had been timed to go off an hour later
The first track race is timed for 11.15

Period

See menstrual period.

Time

Measure the time taken by (a process or activity, or a person doing it)
I timed how long it took to empty that tanker
We were timed and given certificates according to our speed

Period

A point or portion of time at which something is ended; a completion or conclusion.

Time

(of a computer or a program) cancel an operation automatically because a predefined interval of time has passed without a certain event happening
Some networks will time out if they don't see activity going to the printer
Connections are timed out when they're not in use

Period

A punctuation mark ( . ) indicating a full stop, placed at the end of declarative sentences and other statements thought to be complete, and after many abbreviations.

Time

A nonspatial continuum in which events occur in apparently irreversible succession from the past through the present to the future.

Period

The full pause at the end of a spoken sentence.

Time

An interval separating two points on this continuum; a duration
A long time since the last war.
Passed the time reading.

Period

A sentence of several carefully balanced clauses in formal writing.

Time

A number, as of years, days, or minutes, representing such an interval
Ran the course in a time just under four minutes.

Period

A metrical unit of quantitative verse consisting of two or more cola.

Time

A similar number representing a specific point on this continuum, reckoned in hours and minutes
Checked her watch and recorded the time, 6:17 AM.

Period

An analogous unit or division of classical Greek or Latin prose.

Time

A system by which such intervals are measured or such numbers are reckoned
Solar time.

Period

(Music) A group of two or more phrases within a composition, often made up of 8 or 16 measures and terminating with a cadence.

Time

Often times An interval, especially a span of years, marked by similar events, conditions, or phenomena; an era
Hard times.
A time of troubles.

Period

The least interval in the range of the independent variable of a periodic function of a real variable in which all possible values of the dependent variable are assumed.

Time

Times The present with respect to prevailing conditions and trends
You must change with the times.

Period

A group of digits separated by commas in a written number.

Time

A suitable or opportune moment or season
A time for taking stock of one's life.

Period

The number of digits that repeat in a repeating decimal. For example, 1/7 = 0.142857142857 ... has a six-digit period.

Time

Periods or a period designated for a given activity
Harvest time.
Time for bed.

Period

(Chemistry) A sequence of elements arranged in order of increasing atomic number and forming one of the horizontal rows in the periodic table.

Time

Periods or a period necessary or available for a given activity
I have no time for golf.

Period

Of, belonging to, or representing a certain historical age or time
A period piece.
Period furniture.

Time

A period at one's disposal
Do you have time for a chat?.

Period

Used to emphasize finality, as when expressing a decision or an opinion
You're not going to the movies tonight, period!.

Time

An appointed or fated moment, especially of death or giving birth
He died before his time. Her time is near.

Period

A length of time.
There was a period of confusion following the announcement.
You'll be on probation for a six-month period.

Time

One of several instances
Knocked three times.
Addressed Congress for the last time before retirement.

Period

A period of time in history seen as a single coherent entity; an epoch, era.
Food rationing continued in the post-war period.

Time

Times Used to indicate the number of instances by which something is multiplied or divided
This tree is three times taller than that one. My library is many times smaller than hers.

Period

The punctuation mark “.” (indicating the ending of a sentence or marking an abbreviation).

Time

One's lifetime.

Period

(figurative) A decisive end to something; a stop.

Time

One's period of greatest activity or engagement.

Period

The length of time during which the same characteristics of a periodic phenomenon recur, such as the repetition of a wave or the rotation of a planet.

Time

A person's experience during a specific period or on a certain occasion
Had a good time at the party.

Period

(euphemism) Female menstruation; an episode of this.
When she is on her period, she prefers not to go swimming.

Time

A period of military service.

Period

A section of an artist's, writer's (etc.) career distinguished by a given quality, preoccupation etc.
This is one of the last paintings Picasso created during his Blue Period.

Time

A period of apprenticeship.

Period

Each of the divisions into which a school day is split, allocated to a given subject or activity.
I have math class in second period.

Time

(Informal) A prison sentence.

Period

Each of the intervals, typically three, of which a game is divided.
Gretzky scored in the last minute of the second period.

Time

The customary period of work
Hired for full time.

Period

One or more additional intervals to decide a tied game, an overtime period.
They won in the first overtime period.

Time

The period spent working.

Period

The length of time for a disease to run its course.

Time

The hourly pay rate
Earned double time on Sundays.

Period

An end or conclusion; the final point of a process etc.

Time

The period during which a radio or television program or commercial is broadcast
"There's television time to buy" (Brad Goldstein).

Period

(rhetoric) A complete sentence, especially one expressing a single thought or making a balanced, rhythmic whole.

Time

The rate of speed of a measured activity
Marching in double time.

Period

(obsolete) A specific moment during a given process; a point, a stage.

Time

The meter of a musical pattern
Three-quarter time.

Period

(chemistry) A row in the periodic table of the elements.

Time

The rate of speed at which a piece of music is played; the tempo.

Period

(geology) A geochronologic unit of millions to tens of millions of years; a subdivision of an era, and subdivided into epochs.
These fossils are from the Jurassic period.

Time

Chiefly British The hour at which a pub closes.

Period

(genetics) A Drosophila gene, the gene product of which is involved in regulation of the circadian rhythm.

Time

(Sports) A time-out.

Period

(music) Two phrases (an antecedent and a consequent phrase).

Time

Of, relating to, or measuring time.

Period

(math) The length of an interval over which a periodic function, periodic sequence or repeating decimal repeats; often the least such length.

Time

Constructed so as to operate at a particular moment
A time release.

Period

(archaic) End point, conclusion.

Time

Payable on a future date or dates.

Period

Designating anything from a given historical era. en
A period car
A period TV commercial

Time

Of or relating to installment buying
Time payments.

Period

Evoking, or appropriate for, a particular historical period, especially through the use of elaborate costumes and scenery.

Time

To set the time for (an event or occasion).

Period

That's final; that's the end of the matter (analogous to a period ending a sentence); end of story.
I know you don't want to go to the dentist, but your teeth need to be checked, period!

Time

To adjust to keep accurate time.

Period

To come to a period; to conclude.

Time

To adjust so that a force is applied or an action occurs at the desired time
Timed his swing so as to hit the ball squarely.

Period

To put an end to.

Time

To record the speed or duration of
Time a runner.

Period

A portion of time as limited and determined by some recurring phenomenon, as by the completion of a revolution of one of the heavenly bodies; a division of time, as a series of years, months, or days, in which something is completed, and ready to recommence and go on in the same order; as, the period of the sun, or the earth, or a comet.

Time

To set or maintain the tempo, speed, or duration of
Time a manufacturing process.

Period

A stated and recurring interval of time; more generally, an interval of time specified or left indefinite; a certain series of years, months, days, or the like; a time; a cycle; an age; an epoch; as, the period of the Roman republic.
How by art to make plants more lasting than their ordinary period.

Time

To speculate based on the anticipated short-term performance of (a market)
Time the stock market.

Period

One of the great divisions of geological time; as, the Tertiary period; the Glacial period. See the Chart of Geology.

Time

(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

Period

The termination or completion of a revolution, cycle, series of events, single event, or act; hence, a limit; a bound; an end; a conclusion.
So spake the archangel Michael; then paused,As at the world's great period.
Evils which shall never end till eternity hath a period.
This is the period of my ambition.

Time

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.

Period

A complete sentence, from one full stop to another; esp., a well-proportioned, harmonious sentence.
Periods are beautiful when they are not too long.

Time

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.

Period

The punctuation point [.] that marks the end of a complete sentence, or of an abbreviated word.

Time

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.

Period

One of several similar sets of figures or terms usually marked by points or commas placed at regular intervals, as in numeration, in the extraction of roots, and in circulating decimals.

Time

A duration of time.

Period

The time of the exacerbation and remission of a disease, or of the paroxysm and intermission.

Time

(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!

Period

A complete musical sentence.

Time

(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.

Period

To put an end to.

Time

The serving of a prison sentence.
The judge leniently granted a sentence with no hard time.
He is not living at home because he is doing time.

Period

To come to a period; to conclude. [Obs.] "You may period upon this, that," etc.

Time

(countable) An experience.
We had a wonderful time at the party.

Period

An amount of time;
A time period of 30 years
Hastened the period of time of his recovery
Picasso's blue period

Time

(countable) An era; (with the, sometimes in plural) the current era, the current state of affairs.
Roman times;
The time of the dinosaurs

Period

One of three periods of play in hockey games

Time

A person's youth or young adulthood, as opposed to the present day.
In my time, we respected our elders.

Period

A stage in the history of a culture having a definable place in space and time;
A novel from the Victorian period

Time

Time out; temporary, limited suspension of play.

Period

The interval taken to complete one cycle of a regularly repeating phenomenon

Time

An instant of time.

Period

The monthly discharge of blood from the uterus of nonpregnant women from puberty to menopause;
The women were sickly and subject to excessive menstruation
A woman does not take the gout unless her menses be stopped
The semen begins to appear in males and to be emitted at the same time of life that the catamenia begin to flow in females

Time

(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.

Period

A punctuation mark (.) placed at the end of a declarative sentence to indicate a full stop or after abbreviations;
In England they call a period a stop

Time

(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

Period

A unit of geological time during which a system of rocks formed;
Ganoid fishes swarmed during the earlier geological periods

Time

(countable) A numerical indication of a particular moment.
At what times do the trains arrive?;
These times were erroneously converted between zones

Period

The end or completion of something;
Death put a period to his endeavors
A change soon put a period to my tranquility

Time

(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!

Time

Closing time.
Last call: it's almost time.

Time

The hour of childbirth.

Time

(as someone's time) The end of someone's life, conceived by the speaker as having been predestined.
It was his time.

Time

(countable) The measurement under some system of region of day or moment.
Let's synchronize our watches so we're not on different time.

Time

(countable) Ratio of comparison.
Your car runs three times faster than mine;
That is four times as heavy as this

Time

Tense.
The time of a verb

Time

(music) The measured duration of sounds; measure; tempo; rate of movement; rhythmical division.
Common or triple time;
The musician keeps good time.

Time

To measure or record the time, duration, or rate of.
I used a stopwatch to time myself running around the block.

Time

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.

Time

(obsolete) To keep or beat time; to proceed or move in time.

Time

(obsolete) To pass time; to delay.

Time

To regulate as to time; to accompany, or agree with, in time of movement.

Time

To measure, as in music or harmony.

Time

(tennis) Reminder by the umpire for the players to continue playing after their pause.

Time

The umpire's call in prizefights, etc.

Time

A call by a bartender to warn patrons that the establishment is closing and no more drinks will be served.

Time

Duration, considered independently of any system of measurement or any employment of terms which designate limited portions thereof.
The time wasteth [i. e. passes away] night and day.
I know of no ideas . . . that have a better claim to be accounted simple and original than those of space and time.

Time

A particular period or part of duration, whether past, present, or future; a point or portion of duration; as, the time was, or has been; the time is, or will be.
God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets.

Time

The period at which any definite event occurred, or person lived; age; period; era; as, the Spanish Armada was destroyed in the time of Queen Elizabeth; - often in the plural; as, ancient times; modern times.

Time

The duration of one's life; the hours and days which a person has at his disposal.
Believe me, your time is not your own; it belongs to God, to religion, to mankind.

Time

A proper time; a season; an opportunity.
There is . . . a time to every purpose.
The time of figs was not yet.

Time

Hour of travail, delivery, or parturition.
She was within one month of her time.

Time

Performance or occurrence of an action or event, considered with reference to repetition; addition of a number to itself; repetition; as, to double cloth four times; four times four, or sixteen.
Summers three times eight save one.

Time

The present life; existence in this world as contrasted with immortal life; definite, as contrasted with infinite, duration.
Till time and sin together cease.

Time

Tense.

Time

The measured duration of sounds; measure; tempo; rate of movement; rhythmical division; as, common or triple time; the musician keeps good time.
Some few lines set unto a solemn time.

Time

To appoint the time for; to bring, begin, or perform at the proper season or time; as, he timed his appearance rightly.
There is no greater wisdom than well to time the beginnings and onsets of things.

Time

To regulate as to time; to accompany, or agree with, in time of movement.
Who overlooked the oars, and timed the stroke.
He was a thing of blood, whose every motionWas timed with dying cries.

Time

To ascertain or record the time, duration, or rate of; as, to time the speed of horses, or hours for workmen.

Time

To measure, as in music or harmony.

Time

To keep or beat time; to proceed or move in time.
With oar strokes timing to their song.

Time

To pass time; to delay.

Time

An instance or single occasion for some event;
This time he succeeded
He called four times
He could do ten at a clip

Time

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 is his time

Time

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

Time

A suitable moment;
It is time to go

Time

The continuum of experience in which events pass from the future through the present to the past

Time

The time as given by a clock;
Do you know what time it is?
The time is 10 o'clock

Time

The fourth coordinate that is required (along with three spatial dimensions) to specify a physical event

Time

A person's experience on a particular occasion;
He had a time holding back the tears
They had a good time together

Time

Rhythm as given by division into parts of equal time

Time

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

Time

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

Time

Assign a time for an activity or event;
The candidate carefully timed his appearance at the disaster scene

Time

Set the speed, duration, or execution of;
We time the process to manufacture our cars very precisely

Time

Regulate or set the time of;
Time the clock

Time

Adjust so that a force is applied an an action occurs at the desired time;
The good player times his swing so as to hit the ball squarely

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