Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
UTC

UTC

62 4.0
The global time standard used to keep clocks the same everywhere
  • noun
  • /juː tiː siː/
  • Specialized
translation icon : Tiempo Universal Coordinado
  • October 17, 2012, 6:10 AM (UTC -5)
  • time in UTC
  • 1200 UTC

Examples

  • October 18, 2012, 3:33 PM (UTC -5)

    Blog text (3)

  • Reentering Russian airspace at 7:55 UTC.

    Hidden Figures (2016)

  • So in summary, today UTC is the reference timescale in use worldwide.

  • The starting time of the forecast is 00:00 UTC.

    Academic text (2018)

  • The event time (DateTime) is always given in UTC.

    Academic text (2018)

  • October 17, 2012 3:52 am (UTC -5)

    Blog text (3)

  • Dr. Miranda North, quarantine officer, 23:20 UTC.

    Life (2017)

  • At 06:30 UTC, Pilgrim was struck by debris and veered off course.

    Life (2017)

  • Our countdown continuing and still aiming toward a planned lift-off time at 7:51, UTC.

    Ad Astra (2019)

  • The conference is scheduled to start at 14:00 UTC on Thursday.

Synonyms

coordinated universal time
vsUTC
  • Specialized
4.9

The global time for clocks, based on Greenwich time and adjusted with extra seconds to match Earth's rotation

is the abbreviated form commonly used in clocks and schedules

Surface Forms

UTC singular
UTCs plural

Morphology

UTC = coordinated + universal + time (opaque) = U + T + C

The entry is an initialism (letters) whose individual letters do not convey meaning unless the learner already knows the expanded phrase, so the form is not helpful for deriving meaning.

Etymology

The word UTC comes from the full name Coordinated Universal Time, but the letters were chosen as a language-neutral code — a fair choice between the English initials 'CUT' and the French 'TUC'. Think of UTC as one clock for the world: it is the single time standard used worldwide to keep clocks and systems in sync.