Time's measures and moments — intervals, dates, seasons of now and later. When, in every form.
Before now, sooner than expected. The word that says the thing has happened without being noticed.
The rhythm at which something recurs. A cadence tuned to what is actually ready is a lighthouse; one tuned to reach is a demand.
Time laid out so that days can be pointed at. A calendar makes duration addressable.
Ordered by when things happened. The one ordering that cannot be argued with, since time made it.
An instrument that keeps time exactly enough to be trusted. Its worth is entirely in not drifting.
The holding of a thread unbroken across change. Continuity is what makes a later moment belong to the same story as an earlier one.
Without break or step. Continuity is what makes a later moment belong to the same thing as an earlier one.
A required wait before a thing may be done again. A cooldown protects what repetition would exhaust.
Belonging to now. Also a steady flow in one direction — both senses are about what is presently running.
A named day, by which an event can be placed in time. A date is what makes a claim checkable against a record.
A day and a time held together as one value. Precision enough to order events that share a date.
One turn of the earth, and the span a life is lived in units of. Also, in this house, one continuous stretch that may run far past a date.
Time deliberately or unavoidably placed between two events. A delay can be a fault or a mercy.
How long a thing lasts. The measure of a happening from its start to its end.
Having passed, of time. Elapsed time is measured from a marked start and is the only kind that can be known exactly.
A stretch of time with a character of its own. Eras are named afterward, by people who can see where they ended.
Something that happened, held as a discrete thing. A moment given edges so it can be recorded and pointed at.
A bringing forth, and the cohort brought forth together. Both the act and everyone born of it.
What happened, as it is held and told afterward. History is always a record made by someone, from somewhere.
Belonging to the beginning. Of the first state, before anything has acted on it.
The space between two points in time or pitch. An interval is measured by its ends and is itself empty.
A going that changes the one who goes. A journey is measured by what it costs, not by distance.
Final in an order, and most recent. Also to endure — the same word for the end and for holding on.
Most recent of those there are. Latest is a fact about order, not about correctness.
What was left by those before, still standing and still depended on. Legacy is not a fault; it is evidence something worked long enough to matter.
A marked point along a longer road. It measures distance travelled, not distance remaining.
Millisecond — a thousandth of a second. The unit at which interface timing becomes felt.
Not existing before now. Newness is a fact about time, and is constantly read as a claim about worth.
More recent than another. Newness is a fact about time and is constantly read as a claim about worth.
The one following this. Next assumes an order and a place already occupied.
The present moment, which is the only one anything can be done in. Now is never a duration.
Where a thing began. A myth explaining how something started — the story of first causes and founding moments.
A bounded stretch of time, and the mark that ends a sentence. Both are ways of saying this much and no further.
Coming before this one. Previousness is a fact about order, and carries no claim about being superseded.
Of the very first, before anything derived from it. Of what was there when there was nothing else.
Taking little time. Also, in its older sense, alive — the quick and the dead.
Having happened not long ago. Recency is a fact about time and is constantly mistaken for relevance.
Happening again at intervals. Recurrence is what turns an instance into a pattern.
A stretch of time with its own weather and work. A season is named by what it is for.
Short form of second, and of section. A named abbreviation rather than a concept.
The base unit of counted time. Also those who come after the first — the same word for a moment and for a rank.
One after another in order. Sequence means each must wait for the one before.
One continuous stretch of working or meeting, with a beginning and an end. A session is a container for attention.
One unit of a clock's counting. A tick is the smallest interval a system can tell apart.
The dimension along which things happen in order. What lets before and after be told apart.
A limit on how long a wait may last before giving up. A timeout is a decision about patience, made in advance.
A thing that counts a span and reports when it has passed. It watches so nothing else has to.
A mark saying exactly when. A timestamp is what turns an event into a datable fact.
The present day. In this house, a word that may cover a stretch far longer than one turn of the earth.
The world's common reference time, from which local times are offsets. A shared zero so records can be compared.
One full circuit of the earth around the sun, used to count a life. The unit a human span is measured in.
Up to now, and not now but possibly later. The word that holds a door open while reporting it closed.