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Science & Tech > Time > How Long


Now updated for CSW19. New words, if any, and new inflections of existing words, are shown in red.


aeon eon the largest division of geological time, composed of several ERAS.
aeonian eonian lasting for aeons, eternal.
aeonic lasting an AEON. N.B. no EONIC*.
age a long but indefinite period of time; any great division of world, human, or individual history; (verb) to grow older.
agelong lasting for an age or very long time.
ahemeral not lasting a full twenty-four hours.
allnight of light, fuel, food etc.: provided for the whole night.
awee awhile.
awhile for a while.
bimester a period of two months.
bimillenary a span of 2,000 years; a 2,000th anniversary.
bimillennium a period of two thousand years > BIMILLENNIUMS or BIMILLENNIA.
calpa kalpa one of the Brahmanic eons, a period of 4,320,000,000 years. At the end of each calpa the world is annihilated, which is bad luck if you happen to be around at the time.
century one hundred years.
chiliad a group of 1000; a period of 1000 years, a MILLENNIUM. [Gk. kilioi, thousand].
chiliadal chiliadic relating to a CHILIAD.
chronon a very small unit of time, defined as a) the time required for a photon to travel the diameter of an electron or b) the time between pressing one's clock in Scrabble and seeing that there was a better move you could have played.
coeternal equally eternal, jointly eternal.
coeternally (adv.) COETERNAL, equally eternal.
day a period of twenty four hours, or period of daylight.
daylong lasting all day.
decade a period of ten years.
decennium a period of ten years > DECENNIA or DECENNIUMS.
diel a full 24-hour day > DIELS.
diuturnal of long continuance; lasting.
downtime the period of time when e.g. a machine is out of action.
eon see AEON.
eonian see AEONIAN.
epact the moon's age at the beginning of the year; the excess of the calendar month or solar year over the lunar.
ephemeral existing only for a day, or short period; (noun) a creature, such as a mayfly, that lives for one day only.
epoch epocha a division of geologic time shorter than a PERIOD.
epochal belonging to an EPOCH; of the nature of an EPOCH.
epochally (adv.) EPOCHAL, belonging to an epoch.
era an age; a main division of geological time.
eternal something lasting forever.
eternalise eternalize to make eternal.
eternality the state of being eternal.
eternally (adv.) ETERNAL, lasting forever.
eterne eternal.
eternity duration without beginning or end.
evanescent fleeting, transitory.
evanescence the state of being EVANESCENT.
everlasting lasting forever; (noun) a flower (of Helichrysum, Antennaria or other genus) that may be kept for years without much change of appearance.
everlastingness the state of being EVERLASTING.
evermore for all time to come.
eviternal eternal.
eviternally (adv.) EVITERNAL, eternal.
eyeblink a very short instant of time.
femtosecond one quadrillionth part of a second.
forever (noun) eternity.
forevermore forever.
fortnight a period of two weeks.
fugacious lasting a short time, evanescent.
fugacity fugaciousness the state of being FUGACIOUS.
gliffing the time required to give a glance, an instant. N.B. there is a noun GLIFF, but no GLIFFED*.
hebdomad a set of seven, a period of seven days.
henceforward from this time on.
hereafter from this time on.
hexaemeron the (biblical) six days of creation.
hexaemeric relating to a HEXAEMERON.
horal pertaining to hour(s); hourly.
horary pertaining to an hour; continuing for an hour; hourly.
hour sixty minutes.
hourlong lasting an hour.
howre (arch.) an hour.
instant a very short period of time.
interregnum the time during which a throne is vacant between two reigns; a lapse in a continuous series.
intraday occurring within a single day.
jiff jiffy an instant.
jour a day, as in jour de feste.
kalpa see CALPA.
laytime the total time allowed for the loading and unloading of cargo.
lifelong lasting the duration of a life.
lifespan the length of a life.
lifetime the length of a life.
longtime enduring for a long time, e.g. my longtime friend.
lunation a lunar month; the interval between successive new moons.
lustrum a purification of the whole Roman people made in ancient times after the census every five years; by extension a period of five years, a QUINQUENNIUM > LUSTRA or LUSTRUMS.
meantime meanwhile (noun) a period of time while something else is going on.
mensual pertaining to a month; monthly.
microsecond one millionth of a second.
millennium a period of one thousand years > MILLENNIA or MILLENNIUMS.
millisecond a thousandth part of a second.
minute sixty seconds; (adj.) small > MINUTER, MINUTEST.
mo a moment > MOS.
moment a very short period of time.
momentany momentary.
momentariness the state of being momentary.
momentary lasting for a moment.
momently for a moment.
moneth a month.
month one of the twelve conventional divisions of the year, or its length.
monthlong lasting for a month.
multiday lasting for more than one day.
multiyear lasting many years.
nanosecond a billionth of a second.
nightlong lasting all night.
noughties the decade from 2000 to 2009.
nychthemeral of or relating to a NYCHTHEMERON or 24-hour period.
nychthemeron a full period of a day and night: 24 hours.
ouk oulk (Scots) a week.
period one of the main divisions of geological time; (verb) to come or bring to an end.
permanent remaining, or intended to remain, indefinitely; (noun) a permanent member of staff.
permanence permanency the fact or state of being permanent.
permanently (adv.) PERMANENT.
picosecond a millionth of a second.
protense an extension in time, a duration.
quadrennium a period of four years > QUADRENNIA or QUADRENNIUMS.
quadriennium a period of four years > QUADRIENNIA or QUADRIENNIUMS.
quinquennium a period of five years > QUINQUENNIA or QUINQUENNIUMS.
saeculum seculum an astronomical or geological age > SAECULUMS, SECULUMS or SECULA.
saronic relating to a SAROS, q.v.
saros a cycle of 6585.32 days in which eclipses of the sun and moon occur in same sequence and at the same intervals as in the previous such cycle. [Gk. saros, from Babylonian sharu 3600].
season one of the four natural divisions of the year, spring, summer, autumn and winter; a limited period.
second the SI unit of time (symbol s), defined in terms of the resonance vibration of the caesium-133 atom as the interval occupied by a specific number of cycles.
seculum see SAECULUM.
semester a period of six months; especially, a term in a college or university which divides the year into two terms. [L. semestris, from sex, six + mensis, a month].
sempiternal of never-ending duration, eternal.
sennight the space of seven nights and days, a week. [OE seofon nihta, from seofon, seven + nihta, plural of niht, night].
septennate a period of seven years; as, the septennate during which the President of the French Republic holds office.
septennium a period of seven years > SEPTENNIA.
sexcentenary relating to the number 600 or a period of 600 years.
somewhile once; for a time.
subepoch a subdivision of an EPOCH.
subperiod part of a PERIOD.
svedberg a unit of time used to measure sedimentation velocity. [From Theo Svedberg, Swedish chemist].
tarnal (coll.) eternal > TARNALLY.
temporary lasting for a time only; not permanent.
temporariness the state of being TEMPORARY.
termtime a period during which pupils are attending school.
timeframe a limited or restricted period of time.
timescale the period within which something happens or is to happen.
towmon towmond towmont a twelvemonth.
transient not lasting long; (noun) a transient thing or being.
transientness the state of being TRANSIENT.
transitoriness the state of being TRANSITORY.
transitory not lasting long.
trice a very short time; (verb) to haul and make fast.
triduan lasting three DAYS.
triennium a period of three years > TRIENNIA or TRIENNIUMS.
trimester a period of three months, an academic term.
trimestrial trimestral relating to a TRIMESTER.
twelvemonth a period of twelve months.
uptime the time during which machinery is functioning.
week a period of seven days.
weeklong lasting for a week.
while an indefinite period of time.
whilere while.
workaday suitable for a work day, plain and practical; (noun) a working day.
workweek the working week.
year the time taken by the earth to orbit the sun.
yearlong lasting a year.
yonks ages, a long time. N.B. no YONK*.
zeptosecond a 10 to the -21 part of a second.