Meanings
nounaccess time (countable and uncountable, plural access times)
plural access times
- countableuncountablecomputingThe time interval between the issuing of a request to read data from or write data to a storage device and the completion of this action.
Random access files have a fast access time, but they cannot easily produce sequential lists.
1986, Roger R Flynn, An Introduction to Information Science - countableuncountablecomputingAn item of metadata indicating when a file was last accessed.
It is difficult to monitor both the access time and the change time, because monitoring the file attributes resets the access time […]
2005, Brian Wotring, Bruce Potter, Marcus J Ranum, Rainer Wichmann, Host Integrity Monitoring Using Osiris and Samhain
Origin
First attested in 1948.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Esperanto atingotempo
- atingotempotime interval between requesting and completing
Finnish saantiaika
- saantiaikatime interval between requesting and completing
Indonesian waktu akses
- waktu aksestime interval between requesting and completing
Malay waktu capaian
- waktu capaiantime interval between requesting and completing
Cite this entry
APA
access time. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/access%20time
MLA
“access time.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/access%20time. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “access time,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/access%20time.
Source: access time on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.