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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

timer.

Agent noun of time: someone or something that times.

5 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈtaɪmɚ/General-American
  1. Agent noun of time: someone or something that times. A device used to measure amounts of time.

    start the timer when you hear the gunshot
  2. Agent noun of time: someone or something that times. Any electronic function that causes a device to be able to do something automatically after a preset amount of time.

  3. Agent noun of time: someone or something that times. A person who records the time elapsed in a sporting event.

Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *deh₂- Proto-Indo-European *deh₂y- Proto-Indo-European *-mṓ Proto-Indo-European *dh₂i-mon- Proto-Germanic *tīmô Proto-West Germanic *tīmō Old English tīma Middle English tyme English time Proto-Indo-European *-yósder. Proto-Italic *-āzios Latin -āriusnom. Latin -āriusbor. Proto-Germanic *-ārijaz Proto-West Germanic *-ārī Old English -ere Middle English -ere English -er English timer From time (verb) + -er.

noun/ˈtaɪmɚ/General-American
  1. One who has done something a certain number of times.

    in-compounds
    third-timer
  2. One characterized by a certain time or time frame, such as their work hours.

    in-compounds
Where this word comes from

From time (noun) + -er (measurement suffix) or + -er (occupational suffix).

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timer studiotimer workshello, timer

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.