Timeframes

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Periods or spans during which events occur or conditions exist
2. Specified durations in which particular activities or changes take place
3. Intervals of time characterized by specific events or circumstances

Etymology: "Timeframes" is simply the plural of "timeframe," so its history is that of the singular form. "Timeframe" is a compound of "time" and "frame," joining the ancient word for the continuous passage of events with a term for an enclosing structure. "Frame" traces back to Old English "framian," meaning to benefit or to make progress, and its sense of a supporting structure developed later. Put together, the compound pictures a span of time as a bounded box or outline within which events are set. The word's natural use is for planning: a project's timeframe is the window in which its stages must happen. Because the plural simply counts several of these windows, "timeframes" is most often heard when people compare schedules, deadlines or periods of activity side by side.

Synonyms: periods, durations, intervals, time spans, schedules

Antonyms: timelessness, eternity, infinity, chaos, disorganization