term timen.
/ˈtəːm tʌɪm/, U.S. /ˈtərm ˌtaɪm/ 1.
a. Law. The period during which a law court is in session; (also as a count noun) each of the times of the year appointed for the sitting of law courts. Cf. term n. 4a.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > administration of justice > judicial body, assembly, or court > a or the session of a court > [noun] > period when courts sit
season?a1400
term1429
term time1429
1429–30 Rolls of Parl.: Henry VI (Electronic ed.) Parl. Sept. 1429 §27. m. 11 That oute of the terme tyme, no thyng shal be sped in the counseill.
1435 Rolls of Parl.: Henry VI (Electronic ed.) Parl. Oct. 1435 §21. m. 3 All the high courtes..been sette and holden..duryng all the foure terme tymes of the yere.
1562–3 Act 5 Elizabeth I c. 23 §2 in Statutes of Realm (1963) IV. i. 452 One Writ of Capias..returneable in the same Courte, in the Terme tyme.
1574 in W. P. Baildon Black Bks. (Rec. Soc. Lincoln's Inn) (1897) I. 391 None to be called to the Utter Barre but by the ordynarie Counsell of the House..in terme tyme.
1640 R. Brome Antipodes i. vi. sig. Dv They work..in the vacations, To give their law for nothing in the terme times.
1653 Mercurius Democritus No. 80. 631 That they may have leave to practice in the Country; it being against Reason, that it should be Term time with their Husbands, and a long and tedious vacation with the poor souls their Wives in the Countrey.
1734 Case of Bankrupts & Insolvents Consider'd 71 The knavish Debtor..walks abroad daily and openly in Term Time, by means of Day Rules.
1776 Spectator 24 Mar. 89 Those [Lawyers] who are carried down in coachfulls to Westminster-hall, every morning in Term-time.
1823 ‘J. Bee’ Slang at Stag Men who being hired at a guinea or two per oath, to swear they are worth vast sums, stand about judges' chambers in term-time.
1841 Penny Cycl. XXI. 271/2 In Serjeants' Inn Hall the judges and serjeants..dine together during term-time.
1910 W. W. Herron Suppl. Sayles' Rules of Pract. Civil Courts of Rec. Texas I. 112 If a majority or quorum shall not attend, it shall be the duty of the judge or sheriff in attendance to adjourn the court to the next regular term time.
2015 Irish Examiner (Nexis) 31 Oct. Two trials took up over 50% of sittings during term time since mid 2014.
b. The period during which instruction is given to students at a school, college, or university; (also as a count noun) a period occupied by an academic term. Cf. term n. 4c.
ΘΚΠ
society > education > educational administration > [noun] > session or term > term-time
term1577
term time1602
1602 R. More Carpenters Rule To Rdr. sig. A4v There are especiall good helps, both by the Lecture at Gresham Colledge euery Thursday in the Terme times..as also by Euclides Elements of Geometrie.
1691 A. Wood Athenæ Oxonienses I. 440 He..Master of Arts,..read an Arabick Lecture twice in a Week in Term-time in the Divinity School.
1721 N. Amhurst Terræ-filius No. 49 (single sheet) (verso/1) The heads of colleges and halls..are obliged to assemble at some fix'd place every Monday throughout the Year, in Vacation-time as well as in Term time.
1775 S. Palmer Calamy's Nonconformist's Memorial I. 108 He removed from Cambridge in 1624, (tho' he often went at term-time till he took his degree of A. M.).
1839 H. Humphrey Disc. before Connecticut Alpha 9 They could hold a respectable standing elsewhere, with fewer weeks of term time, and a less amount of study.
1877 Bicycling Times 14 June 42/2 We must remark on the wisdom of such an arrangement between work and play, being..very preferable to having a break for festivities in the middle of term times.
1932 Times 11 Apr. 13/5 Practically every private school follows the term times of one or the other of the great public schools.
2016 Western Mail (Cardiff) (Nexis) 12 Feb. 4 Regulations from 2010 gave head teachers a discretionary power to authorise leave for a family holiday during term-time where parents seek permission.
2. In northern England: either of the terms of Whitsunday or Martinmas (see term n. 1b), or the period surrounding those days. Also in Scotland: each of the quarterly terms; = term day n. 2 (rare). Now historical.Quot. 1770 may belong to sense 1.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > payment > [noun] > periodic payment > time of
term1393
Whitsunday1450
quarter1644
term day1681
term time1770
1770 W. Emerson Chronology 14 Against the days of the month in the Calendar, are set all the remarkable days, holy days, festivals, term times.
1806 Farmer's Mag. Aug. 380 The servant would not be released from his engagement, but must enter home at term time.
1875 E. Tweddell Rhymes Cleveland Dial. 77 Old Martinmas Day is one of the term times in the Cleveland district for house tenants and servants.
1917 C. Murray Sough o' War 25 Come term-time lat them flit 'at likes.
1956 W. M. Williams Sociol. Eng. Village i. 19 There are now only three youths in the parish who are paid half-yearly—at Whitsun and Martinmas—although hiring of labour still takes place at ‘term-time’ on nearly all farms.
2000 J. Hurst Come Back to Eden xi. 11 ‘The shows’ [in Penrith] always coincided with term time when farm workers came to town in search of new jobs at the hirings.
Compounds
General attributive, in later use often with reference to employment, as term-time job, term-time work, etc.
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1708 Long Vacation 6 His sumptuous Meals and Term-time Luxuries.
1860 Law Times 15 Dec. 79/1 Holiday ‘science’, we suppose, is above such term-time work.
1959 Times 10 Mar. 12/7 There was another way in which I passed some of that term-time holiday.
1993 Independent 11 Jan. 23/6 Term-time jobs, contracts that stipulate only the number of hours to be worked annually, and individual working hours are all subverting the standard working week.
2013 Jrnl. Managem. Policy & Pract. Aug. 108 The investigator..noted a..150% rise in term-time workers, and 200% rise in female employees working annualised hours.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2017; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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