Meanings
- uncountableThe time during which an event or process occurs (and during which, without much delay, it is responded to, reacted to, etc).
Additional data services, such as album art, artist information and advertising logos, interactive user functions, as well as weather and traffic updates in real time [exist].
2016, Jerry C. Whitaker, The SBE Broadcast Engineering Handbook: A Hands-on Guide to Station Design and Maintenance, McGraw Hill Professional, →ISBN, page 111 more example
"It's intelligence in real time, but you have to know where you're looking and what you're after." Government sources told The Washington Post that the program had had little discernible impact on the government's ability to prevent terrorist [attacks].
2009, John C. Conyers, Reining in the Imperial Presidency: Lessons and Recommendations Relating to the Presidency of George W. Bush, Skyhorse Publishing Inc., →ISBN, page 158
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe duration required by a computer system to complete a particular task.
Translations
Arabic زَمَن حَقِيقِيّ
- زَمَن حَقِيقِيّ (zaman ḥaqīqiyy)time duration
Bulgarian реа́лно вре́ме
- реа́лно вре́ме (reálno vréme)time duration
Chinese Mandarin 實時 /实时
- 實時 /实时 (shíshí)time duration
Finnish tosiaika, reaaliaika
- tosiaikatime duration
- reaaliaikatime duration
French temps réel
- temps réeltime duration
German Echtzeit
- Echtzeittime duration
Italian tempo reale
- tempo realetime duration
Japanese リアルタイム, 実時間
- リアルタイム (riarutaimu)time duration
- 実時間 (jitsujikan)time duration
Korean 실시간, 리얼 타임
- 실시간 (silsigan)time duration
- 리얼 타임 (rieol taim)time duration
Norwegian Bokmål sanntid
- sanntidtime duration
Polish czas rzeczywisty
- czas rzeczywistytime duration
Russian реа́льное вре́мя
- реа́льное вре́мя (reálʹnoje vrémja)time duration
Spanish tiempo real
- tiempo realtime duration
Swedish realtid
- realtidtime duration
Turkish gerçek zaman
- gerçek zamantime duration
Ukrainian реа́льний час
- реа́льний час (reálʹnyj čas)time duration
Vietnamese tức thời, thời gian thực
- tức thờitime duration
- thời gian thựctime duration
Cite this entry
real time. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/real%20time
“real time.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/real%20time. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “real time,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/real%20time.
Source: real time on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.