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real time

real time

77 3.7
The time when you get information at once, for example stock prices or a heart rate
  • noun
  • /ˈriːəl taɪm/
  • Specialized
translation icon : tiempo real
  • We can track the stock market trends in real time without delay.
  • data in real time
  • display in real time
  • see data in real time

These tools help us in real time life or death situations.

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Examples

  • Thus, the NRO can collect its photographic information in real time, just seconds after the pictures are taken.

    Fiction book (1994)
  • It's listening and responding in real time, just like a human.

  • And you can do this in real time on video.

  • To have that in real time is wonderful.

  • So here it is in real time, pretty quick.

  • These tools help us in real time life or death situations.

  • The system tracks reported crime in real time.

  • We're going to find out in real time if this joke pays off.

  • All these functions are performed in real time, at 30 frames a second.

    Academic text (1992)
  • Yet today they are in real-time communication with their families and friends in different countries.

    Academic text (2017)

Antonyms

latency
  • Specialized
11 6.8

Delay before a device or program responds

How Immediate

real time
  • Specialized
77 3.7
batch processing
  • Specialized
1 3.9

Surface Forms

real time singular
real times plural

Morphology

real + time

The sense 'the actual time when something happens' is directly compositional from 'real' (actual) + 'time' (moment/period), so a learner who knows both words can infer the meaning. This construction is common and cross-linguistically paralleled (e.g. Spanish 'tiempo real', French 'temps réel'), supporting immediate comprehension at B1.

Etymology

Real time, literally real time, comes from the image of watching something as it happens, like watching a clock during a live event. That's why it means 'the actual time when something happens' and why information is updated immediately.