adj ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adjective

1. 1
   Of a four-vector in representing a point in spacetime, having a positive or negative four-vector norm for the metric signature (+, -, -, -) and (-, +, +, +) respectively.
2. 2
   (of the interval between two events in spacetime) Having overlapping light cones, so that information can pass from one to the other, and one can be envisaged as a cause of the other.

Etymology

From time + -like.

Related phrases

closed timelike curvefuture directed timelike vectorpast directed timelike vectortimelike componenttimelike congruencetimelike pathtimelike vector fieldfour vectorfour vector normlight cone

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.