time frame

noun

variants or less commonly timeframe

ˈtīm-ˌfrām 

: a period of time especially with respect to some action or project

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time frame or timeframe?

Should time frame be written as one word or two? At present, it is most commonly styled as two words with no hyphen in between.

Compounds, or “words consisting of components that are words,” come in three varieties: open (two words with a space between them, such as lima bean), hyphenated (two words with a hyphen between them, such as runner-up), and closed (one word, such as rowboat). In some cases, competing compound stylings appear in different publications. This is generally acceptable as long as the spelling remains consistent throughout a book or periodical.

Compounds have a tendency to move from open to closed as time goes by, and our evidence suggests that time frame is headed in this direction. At this point, however, the open compound is far more prevalent.

Examples of time frame in a Sentence

They were not able to finish the project within the established time frame.

Recent Examples on the Web

Members had paid between four thousand and sixty thousand dollars to join—depending on time frame (five to fifty years), group size, and amenities (en-suite toilets cost extra)—plus annual dues of up to fifteen hundred dollars. —Charles Bethea, The New Yorker, 4 Nov. 2024

Anyone who has been part of an organization that suffered a ransomware attack will attest that the time frame from attack to resolution is fraught with anxiety and uncertainty, turning stakeholder communication during this time into a veritable minefield. —Sandra Pretorius, Forbes, 1 Nov. 2024

Finally, if a polling organization (defined as a partnership between a pollster and sponsor, or a pollster alone if their work was not sponsored by an outside group) had more than one survey in the relevant time frame, only the most recent version was included. —Geoffrey Skelley, ABC News, 29 Oct. 2024

In the same five-year time frame, more than 20,000 total homes have been sold in the city. —Sasha Rogelberg, Fortune, 24 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1893, in the meaning defined above