off timen.
/ˈɒftʌɪm/, U.S. /ˈɔfˌtaɪm/, /ˈɑfˌtaɪm/ A time when a person is off duty or free from work; a holiday; a time when customary or usual activity or business is reduced or suspended.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > [noun] > time off
remedyc1450
intermission?1566
vacancy1599
by-time1609
off-duty1844
watch below, off1850
stand easy1859
off time1866
time off1881
lay-off1889
make and mend1899
laze-off1924
R and R1952
downtime1971
me time1980
1866 C. Dickens Mugby Junction i, in All Year Round Extra Christmas No., 10 Dec. 6/1 The answer to his inquiry, ‘Where's Lamps?’ was..that it was his off-time.
1894 Mrs. H. Ward Marcella II. iii. iv. 323 In hospital..every hour was full, and there were always orders to follow. And the ‘off’ times were no trouble—I never did anything else but walk up and down the Embankment..or go to the National Gallery.
1936 W. R. Titterton G. K. Chesterton ii. iii. 139 I used the stage there at off times to advertise the plays that we ran.
1940 C. Day Lewis tr. Virgil Georgics i. 24 Winter's an off-time for farmers.
1975 BP Shield Internat. May 1/3 We are insisting on their having their homes within 70 miles of Aberdeen because, should there be an emergency, then they can be easily called in during their off-time to deal with it.
2002 Empire Dec. 36 A director who spends his ‘off-time trying to come up with a new career’.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1866