meantime etymology

Etymology

Meantime ultimately comes from the Middle English word meanetime, which emerged in the late 14th century from the Old English prefix meane- ("middle") and the noun time.

Meaning

Meantime is an adverb and noun that refers to:

  • Adverb: During the intervening time; in the interval.
  • Noun: The interval between two events or periods.

Origin

The suffix -time is commonly found in words denoting periods of time, such as lunchtime, playtime, and bedtime. The prefix meane- has its origins in the Germanic word midja, meaning "middle" or "between".

Usage

Adverb:

  • We should finish this homework by tomorrow morning; in the meantime, we can relax and watch a movie.
  • The boss is on a business trip; in the meantime, I'm in charge of the team.

Noun:

  • The meantime between failures (MTBF) of this machine is 10 years.
  • The project has a meantime to completion (MTTC) of 6 months.

meantime relate terms

  • mean

    Etymology Old English mǣne Proto Germanic mainiz Proto Indo European mei to think

  • mean

    Etymology Old English mǣne Proto Germanic mainiz Proto Indo European mei to think

  • meanwhile

    Etymology The word meanwhile comes from the Middle English word mene hwile which is

  • meantime

    Etymology Meantime ultimately comes from the Middle English word meanetime which emerged

  • time

    Etymology Old English tîma time period hour West Germanic tîmon Proto Germanic

  • betwixt

    Etymology Middle English around the 13th century betwixen Old English before the 1

  • sentimentalize

    Etymology of Sentimentalize The word sentimentalize is derived from the following La

  • nylon

    Etymology Nylon is a portmanteau of NY for New York and lon from the chemical suffix

  • manumission

    Etymology from Latin manumissio setting free of a slave from manus hand and mit

  • interregnum

    Etymology Latin interregnum from inter between regnum reign Meaning A

  • interval

    Etymology The word interval comes from the Latin word intervallum which is composed

  • space

    Origin The word space is derived from the Old French word espace which itself comes