Meantime

Pronunciation

• enPR: mÄ“nʹtÄ«m, IPA: /ˈmiːntaɪm/

Alternative forms

• mean time

Origin

From Middle English, as mean + time. Adverb is by ellipsis from in the meantime.

Full definition of meantime

Noun

1. The time spent waiting for another event; time in between.I'll get started tomorrow but, in the meantime, let's see if we can get a few more opinions.

Synonyms

• between-time

Derived terms

• for the mean time, for the meantime
• in mean time, in meantime
• in the mean time, in the meantime
• this mean time, this meantime

Related terms

• meanwhile

Adverb

1. during the interval; meanwhile
• 1919, Boris Sidis, :Meantime Pope Urban II convoked two councils, one after another.
• 1934, Rex Stout, , 1992 edition, ISBN 0553278193, page 97:Lunch will be in twenty minutes. Meantime: I have...

Usage notes

Usually appears sentence-initially.