Spacetime
//ˈspeɪsˌtaɪm// noun
noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 The four-dimensional continuum of the three spatial dimensions plus time. uncountable
"An event is a point in spacetime, specified by the coordinates x, y, z, and t."
- 2 the four-dimensional coordinate system (3 dimensions of space and 1 of time) in which physical events are located wordnet
- 3 An n-dimensional continuum consisting of dimensions of both space and time. Normally spacetime is considered as having 4 dimensions (x, y, z, t), but higher-dimensional spacetimes are often encountered in theoretical physics, e.g. the 5-dimensional spacetime of Kaluza-Klein theory or the 11 dimensions of spacetime in M-theory. countable, uncountable
"a Minkowski spacetime"
- 4 A specific region of the universe with mathematically different properties than the surrounding spacetime. Synonymous with "metric" within the context of general relativity. countable, uncountable
"a Schwarzschild spacetime"
Example
More examples"It is generally assumed that fundamental constants such as c have the same value throughout spacetime, meaning that they do not depend on location and do not vary with time."
Etymology
From space + time, as a calque of German Raumzeit, introduced in this sense by Hermann Minkowski. First appears in print c. 1893 in the Philosophical Review.
Related phrases
More for "spacetime"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.