times
times Lexical Profile
times Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A historical period, era, or the prevailing conditions and circumstances of a particular age.
"The novel vividly portrays the economic hardships of medieval times."
Repeated instances, occasions, or occurrences of an action or event, often used after a number to indicate frequency or a multiplicative ratio.
"She checked the laboratory measurements three times before recording the final result."
• preposition
Multiplied by; used between two numbers or quantities to express mathematical multiplication.
"Seven times eight equals fifty-six."
Word Nuance & Usage
In everyday spoken arithmetic, 'times' functions as a preposition meaning 'multiplied by' (e.g., 'four times five is twenty'); however, using 'times' as an inflected verb ('he timesed the numbers') is nonstandard and should be avoided in formal writing in favor of 'multiply'.
• Rhymes for times
Word Origin & Etymology
From the plural of Middle English 'time', derived from Old English 'tima' ('limited space of time'), from Proto-Germanic '*timon-'. The mathematical prepositional sense developed in the late 14th century from phrases counting repeated instances, such as 'three times four'.