time was
"time-was" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“time was” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a phrase. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 8
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - It was once true (that)...; there was a time when...
Corpus desk
Index EN-time-was · time was · English
time was · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 8 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "T" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | time was |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Phrase |
| Letters | 8 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “time was” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
time was is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as aphrase. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "It was once true (that)...; there was a time when...".
No generated misspelling entries exist for time was in our index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
This entry carries no recorded etymology, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct English form is time was, spelled T-I-M-E- -W-A-S.
Definition
- 1It was once true (that)...; there was a time when...
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how time was appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Time was, the feet of the messengers of peace were glorious, but now their message is mean; […] time was, thou wert exceeding tender of the least sin, and not a day past, but thy cheeks were wet in secret before the Lord; now thou art grown blind […] .
I call him poor; but time was, that in our intercourse I was the obliged party.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
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Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.