meantime
/ˈmiːntaɪm/noun, adverb
meantime is spelled M-E-A-N-T-I-M-E: 8 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 11 times per million words in written English, the 6,674th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “mean time vs meantime” about 90 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, meantime means “The time spent waiting for another event; time in between” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of meantime is meantimes.
How many letters and syllables are in meantime?
| Letters | 8: M-E-A-N-T-I-M-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 11 times per million words; the 6,674th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How common is meantime?
Meantime appears 11 times per million words in written English, the 6,674th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce meantime?
- /ˈmiːntaɪm/
Meantime has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-meantime.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with meantime
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Also written: mean time (one word or two).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of meantime
- meantimes plural
- mean time
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does meantime mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The time spent waiting for another event; time in between.
We'll come back asap; just wait here for the meantime.
adverb
- 1
During the interval; meanwhile.
Repairs will be done tomorrow so meantime restrain from using the bath.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Meantime in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | pendant ce temps, en attendant |
| German | Zwischenzeit , unterdessen |
| Spanish | entretanto , en tanto (locution), entre tanto (locution), mientras tanto |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does meantime come from?
From Middle English menetime, equivalent to mean + time. Adverb is by ellipsis from in the meantime.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).