Meanings
plural meantimes · alternative mean time
- countableuncountableThe time spent waiting for another event; time in between.
We'll come back asap; just wait here for the meantime.
Synonyms: between-time, meanwhile
alternative mean time
- not comparableDuring the interval; meanwhile.
Repairs will be done tomorrow so meantime restrain from using the bath.
3 more examples
Meantime Pope Urban II convoked two councils, one after another.
1919, Boris Sidis, The Source and Aim of Human ProgressLunch will be in twenty minutes. Meantime: I have[…]
1934, Rex Stout, Fer-de-Lance, Bantam edition, published 1992, →ISBN, page 97Meantime, the train went on to Brighton without further incident. No small stir was caused by its arrival with No. 61 at its head, resplendent with "East London Line Special" head boards, which at once caught the eye of William Stroudley, who was observing the traffic working from his office window.
1951 May, J. Pelham Maitland, “A Memorable Run by a Brighton "Terrier"”, in Railway Magazine, page 347
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe time spent waiting for another event; time in between.
More synonyms by meaning
nounthe time between one event, process, or period and another
adverbduring the intervening time
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Middle Englishmenetime
- Englishmeantime
From Middle English menetime, equivalent to mean + time. Adverb is by ellipsis from in the meantime.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek ἐν τούτοις
- ἐν τούτοις (en toútois)time in between
Chinese Mandarin 其間 /其间, 與此同時 /与此同时
- 其間 /其间 (qíjiān)meanwhile
- 與此同時 /与此同时 (yǔcǐtóngshí)meanwhile
Dutch ondertussen
- ondertussentime in between
Esperanto intertempo
- intertempotime in between
Finnish sillä välin
- sillä välinmeanwhile
French pendant ce temps, en attendant
- pendant ce tempstime in between
- en attendanttime in between
German Zwischenzeit, unterdessen
- Zwischenzeittime in between
- unterdessenmeanwhile
Icelandic í millitíðinni, á meðan
- í millitíðinnitime in between
- á meðantime in between
Italian frattempo, contempo
- frattempotime in between
- contempotime in between
- attesatime in between
Japanese その間
- その間 (sono aida)meanwhile
Korean 그동안
- 그동안 (geudong'an)meanwhile
Latin interea, interim
- intereatime in between
- interimtime in between
Polish międzyczas
- międzyczastime in between
Russian тем вре́менем, ме́жду те́м
- тем вре́менем (tem vrémenem)meanwhile
- ме́жду те́м (méždu tém)meanwhile
Spanish entretanto, en tanto (locution)
- entretantotime in between
- en tanto (locution)meanwhile
- entre tanto (locution)meanwhile
- entretantomeanwhile
- mientras tantomeanwhile
Welsh cyfamser
- cyfamsertime in between
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
meantime. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/meantime
“meantime.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/meantime. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “meantime,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/meantime.
Source: meantime on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.