C O N S I D E R A T I O N S
Categories of Time [Roget's International Thesaurus, Third Edition. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Co., 1962.]
A. Absolute Time - Time; Timelessness; Period; Spell; Interim; Durability; Transience; Perpetuity; Instantaneousness; Chronology; Anachronism
B. Relative Time - Priority; Posteriority; Simultaneousness; The Past; The Present; The Future
C. Time with Reference to Age - Newness; Oldness; Youth; Youngling; Age; Adult
D. Time with Reference to Season - Season; Timeliness; Untimeliness; Earliness; Lateness; Morning, Noon; Evening, Night
E. Recurrent Time - Frequency; Infrequency; Regularity of Recurrence; Irregularity of Recurrence
Consider: Where is Now? The Paradox of the Present
R E F E R E N C E S
Time [ME; OE tâma (n.); c. Icel tími; akin to Tide1] 1. the system of sequential relations that any event has to any other, as past, present, or future; indefinite continuous duration regarded as that in which events succeed one another. 2. finite duration [contrasted with eternity]. 3. a system or method of measuring or reckoning the passage of time: mean time; Greenwich Time. 4. a period or interval, as between two events; a long time. 5. a particular period considered as distinct from other periods: Youth is the best time of life. 6. Often, times. a. a period in the history of the world or contemporary with the life or activities of a notable person: prehistoric times; in Lincoln's time. b. the period or era now or previously present: a sign of the times. c. a period considered with reference to its events or prevailing conditions, tendencies, ideas, etc.: hard times; a time of war. 7. a prescribed or allotted period, as of one's life or for payment of a debt. 8. the end of a prescribed or allotted period, as of one's life or a period of gestation: When her time came she was delivered of a boy. 9. a period with reference to personal experience: to have a good time. 10. a period of work of an employee, or the pay for it; working hours or days or an hourly or daily pay rate. 11. Informal. a term of enforced duty or imprisonment: to serve time in the army; to do time in prison. 12. the period necessary for or occupied by something: The time of the baseball game was two hours and two minutes. 13. leisure time; sufficient or spare time: We had not time for a vacation. I have no time to stop now. 14. a particular or definite point in time, as indicated by a clock: What time is it? 15. a particular part of a year, day, etc.: season or period: lunch time; Christmas time. 16. an appointed, fit, due, or proper instant or period: There is a time for everything. 17. the particular point in time when an event is scheduled to take place: train time; curtain time. 18. an indefinite, frequently prolonged period or duration in the future: Time will tell if what we have done here today was right. 19. the right occassion or opportunity: to watch one's time. 20. each occasion of a recurring action or event: It's Joe's time at bat. 21. times, used as a multiplicative word in phrasal combinations expressing how many instances of a quantity or factor are taken together: Two goes into six three times. 22. Drama. one of the three unities. Cf. unity [def. 8. "one of the three principles of dramatic structure [the three unities] derived from Aristotelian aesthetics by which a play is limited in action to one day [unity of time] and one place [unity of place] and to a single plot [unity of action]." - Unity/one]. 23. Pros. a unit or a group of units in the measurement of meter. 24. Music. a. tempo; relative rapidity of movement. b. the metrical duration of a note or rest. c. proper or characteristic tempo. d. the general movement of a particular kind of musical composition with reference to its rhythm, metrical structure, and tempo. e.the movement of a dance or the like to music so arranged: waltz time. 25. Mil. rate of marching, calculated on the number of paces taken per minute: double-time; quick time. 26. Embryol. the period of gestation. 27. against time, in an effort to finish something within a limited period. 28. ahead of time, before the time due; early. 29. at one time, a. once; in a former time: At one time I lived in Japan. b. at the same time; at once: They all tried to talk at one time. 30. at times, at intervals; occasionally. 31. behind the times, old-fashioned; dated. 32. for the time being, temporarily; for the present: Let's forget about it for the time being. 33. from time to time, on occasion; occasionaly; at intervals. 34. in good tme, a. at the right time. b. in advance of the right time; early: We arrived in good time. 35. in no time, in a very brief time; almost at once: They cleaned the entire house in no time. 36. in time, a. early enough; to come in time for dinner. b. in the future; eventually: In time he'll see what is right. c. in the correct rhythm or tempo. 37. keep time, a. to record time, as a watch or clock does. b. to mark or observe the tempo. c. to perform rhythmic movements in unison. 38. kill time, to occupy oneself with some activity to make time pass quickly. 39. make good, bad, etc. time, to maintain or achieve a good, bad, etc. rate of speed in travelling: I made bad time because of the detour. 40. make time, to move quickly, esp. in an attempt to recover lost time. 41. many a time, again and again: frequently. 42. mark time, a. to suspend progress temporarily, as to await developments; fail to advance. b. Mil. to move the feet alternately as in marching but without advancing. 43. on time, a. at the specified time; punctually. b. on, or in accordance with, the installment plan. 44. out of time, not in the proper rhythm. 45. pass the time of day, to converse briefly with or greet someone; The women would stop in the market to pass the time of day. 46. take one's time, to be slow or leisurely; dawdle. 47. time after time, again and again; repeatedly; often. Also, time and time again, time and again. 48. time of life, [one's] age: At your time of lilfe you must be careful not to overdo things. 49. time of one's life. Informal. a time or period with respect to keen pleasure enjoyed: They had the time of their lives on their trip to Europe. -adj. 50. of, pertaining to, or showing the passage of time. 51. [of an explosive device] containing a clock so that it will detonate at the desired moment: a time bomb. 52. Com. payable a stated perod of time after presentment. 53. of or pertaining to purchases on the installment plan. -v.t. 54. to ascertain or record the time, duration, or rate: to time a race. 55. to fix the duration of. 56. to fix the interval between [actions, events, etc.]: They timed their strokes at six per minute. 57. to regulate as to time, as a train, clock, etc. 58. to appoint or choose the moment or occasion for; schedule: He timed the attack perfectly. 59. to mark the rhythm or measure of, as in music. 60. Music. to classify [notes or syllables] accordng to meter, accent, rhythm. etc. -v.i. 61. to keep time, sound or move in unison.
[Urdang, Laurence, ed. Random House Dictionary of The English Language. New York: Random House, 1968.]
Timeless adj [ca. 1560] 1 archaic. Premature, Untimely 2a: having no beginning or end: Eternal b: not restricted to a particular time or date [the __ themes of love, solitude, joy, and nature -Writer] 3: not affected by time: Ageless
Timely adv [bef. 12c] 1 archaic. Early, Soon 2: in time: Opportunely [the question was not .... _ raised in the state court -W. O. Do uglas]
[Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 10th Edition. Springfield, MA, USA: Merriam-Webster, Inc. 1995.]
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