# jiffy

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈd͡ʒɪ.fi/ · frequency rank #44,873

## Definitions
1. A very short, unspecified length of time.
2. A unit of time defined by the frequency of its basic timer – historically, and by convention, 0.01 of a second, but some computer operating systems use other values.
3. The length of an alternating current power cycle (1/60 or 1/50 of a second).
4. The time taken for light to travel a specified distance in a vacuum, usually one centimetre (approximately 33.3564 picoseconds), but sometimes one foot or the width of a nucleon.
5. Ellipsis of jiffy bag, a padded envelope.

## Etymology
Origin unknown; said to have been thieves’ cant for “lightning”. Also formerly written "giffy", to which a connection with gliff has been proposed. As a kind of envelope, a genericization of Jiffy bag.

## Easily confused with
- **Jimmy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/jiffy-vs-jimmy)
- **Jeff** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/jeff-vs-jiffy)
- **Jaffa** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/jaffa-vs-jiffy)
- **Jaffe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/jaffe-vs-jiffy)

## Common misspellings (6)
`ijffy`, `jfify`, `jiffyy`, `jify`, `jifyf`, `jjiffy`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/jiffy