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daytime

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Etymology and origin of the English word daytime

Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
Lambeth Psalter
Ultimate origin
English day,time

Pronunciation

  • /ˈdeɪtaɪm/[1]

Etymology

It is a compound from English day + time.[2][3][4] The OED traces it to Old English dægtīma, which glosses Latin per diem (“by day”) in the Lambeth Psalter,[2][5] and compares Old Norse dagstími and Swedish dagtimme;[2] Etymonline and Dictionary.com instead date the English word to the 1530s.[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The time between sunrise and sunset, when it is light: in Old English, in the Lambeth Psalter, where the sun shall not burn by day.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

The meaning has stayed the same since Old English.[2] Johnson (1755) defined it as the time of light, opposed to night, quoting Bacon.[6] The word is often used attributively, before another noun.[7]

Timeline

  • Old English – dægtīma, the time of daylight.[2][5]
  • 1530s – daytime, according to Etymonline.[3][4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The time between dawn and dusk, when there is daylight: Bats rarely fly in the daytime.[8][9][2]

Adjective

  1. Happening during the day or suited to it: daytime traffic.[10]

Word family

  • predaytime
  • daytimes
  • day
  • time

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  5. ^ a b c Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement
  6. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  7. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  9. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  10. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
Cite this entry

“Daytime.” Etymologically, 26 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/daytime. Accessed 26 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·