# How long is a moment? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 1, 2006, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-is-a-moment/362834 "2006-07-01T02:40:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Blatm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5a626/32.png) [@Blatm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blatm)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2006, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-is-a-moment/362834/1 "2006-07-01T02:40:30Z")
I’ve heard that a moment is, technicaly speaking, 90 seconds long. I’ve googled it and I didn’t find anything of any interest concerning this. I was wondering if anyone here had any information on this. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2006, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-is-a-moment/362834/2 "2006-07-01T02:44:29Z")
Longer than “a second,” but shorter than “a minute.” Generally speaking. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Glaze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7c8e57/32.png) [@Glaze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glaze)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2006, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-is-a-moment/362834/3 "2006-07-01T03:18:24Z")
What happens once in minute, twice in a moment, but never in a thousand years? lol I love that joke,but I don’t know why? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2006, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-is-a-moment/362834/4 "2006-07-01T03:26:54Z")
Well, according to [Dictionary.com](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/moment), it’s indefinite, but generally interchangeable with “minute” when the latter is used loosely, such as in “just a minute, we’re doing the dishes!”. I’ve heard it referenced as being 3 minutes long by some folks, but I’ve found no documentation for that assertion. ---
**Author:** ![Blatm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5a626/32.png) [@Blatm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blatm)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2006, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-is-a-moment/362834/5 "2006-07-01T03:43:53Z")
I’ve looked in various dictionaries, some online, some not. None of them specify an actual time. I’m very curious to the origines of this word. I find it doubious that it was just a word for an “unditermined period of time.” ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2006, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-is-a-moment/362834/6 "2006-07-01T04:13:58Z")
Also go first to the [Online Etymology Dictionary](http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=moment&searchmode=none) > [@](#): > > 1340, “very brief portion of time, instant,” in moment of time, from [O.Fr](http://O.Fr). moment, from L. momentum “movement, moving power,” also “instant, importance,” contraction of \*movimentum, from movere “to move” (see move). Some (but not O.E.D.) explain the sense evolution of the L. word by notion of a particle so small it would just “move” the pointer of a scale, which led to the transf. sense of “minute time division.” Sense of "importance, ‘weight’ " is attested in Eng. from 1522. Momentous formed 1656 in Eng., to carry the sense of “important” while momentary (1526) kept the meaning “of an instant of time.” That a moment is 90 seconds sounds like one of those Snapple bottle cap “facts.” I think they should offer a prize for anyone who finds one of these “facts” that is actually true. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2006, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-is-a-moment/362834/7 "2006-07-01T04:24:28Z")
> [@Blatm](#): > > I’ve looked in various dictionaries, some online, some not. None of them specify an actual time. I’m very curious to the origines of this word. I find it doubious that it was just a word for an “unditermined period of time.” Why? Merriam-Webster gives the etymology as: > [@](#): > > Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin _momentum_ movement, particle sufficient to turn the scales, moment, from movEre to move This indicates the origin was a “particle just sufficient [in weight] to move the scales;” therefore implying something very small. It seems reasonable that this meaning could have been extended to mean a very small (unspecified) period of time. What about this etymology do you find dubious? As far as I know, “moment” has no technical meaning related to a unit of time. As \*\*Qadgop \*\* says, some people may assert that it has some such a meaning (which varies between different individuals making the assertion), but this has no actual basis in fact. “Moment” does have some technical definitions, which are: > [@](#): > > 6 a : tendency or measure of tendency to produce motion especially about a point or axis b : the product of quantity (as a force) and the distance to a particular axis or point > 7 a : the mean of the nth powers of the deviations of the observed values in a set of statistical data from a fixed value b : the expected value of a power of the deviation of a random variable from a fixed value ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2006, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-is-a-moment/362834/8 "2006-07-01T05:04:59Z")
> [@Exapno Mapcase](#): > > AThat a moment is 90 seconds sounds like one of those Snapple bottle cap “facts.” I think they should offer a prize for anyone who finds one of these “facts” that is actually true. Honestly, folks, such skepticism. From the OED: > [@](#): > > **2.** A definite unit of time. **a.** In medieval reckoning: the tenth part of a ‘point’, i.e. the fortieth or the fiftieth part of an hour. Now _hist._ One-fortieth of one hour is ninety seconds. The “fact” is true, and I claim my five pounds. ---
**Author:** ![orangeroughyisnotfishytasting](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/45deac/32.png) [@orangeroughyisnotfishytasting](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/orangeroughyisnotfishytasting)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2006, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-is-a-moment/362834/9 "2006-07-01T05:34:19Z")
I’ve always thought of a moment to be like the time it takes you to realize you have actually woken up and are not suspended in time. Way shorter than 90 secs in my somewhat still dry brain, but then time is an illusion according to quantum physics, and I’m a laywoman. I want to elaborate, but I can’t dang it. ---
**Author:** ![gabriela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/db5fbb/32.png) [@gabriela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gabriela)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2006, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-is-a-moment/362834/10 "2006-07-01T10:38:07Z")
> [@Glaze](#): > > What happens once in minute, twice in a moment, but never in a thousand years? > lol I love that joke,but I don’t know why? OK, I stopped adoring you. ---
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2006, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-is-a-moment/362834/11 "2006-07-01T16:28:12Z")
1 moment = 1000 millimoments Duh. ---
**Author:** ![Glaze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7c8e57/32.png) [@Glaze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glaze)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2006, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-is-a-moment/362834/12 "2006-07-01T16:40:25Z")
☹ The letter M. ---
**Author:** ![Julius\_Henry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8797f3/32.png) [@Julius\_Henry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Julius_Henry)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2006, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-is-a-moment/362834/13 "2006-07-01T20:39:47Z")
According to my boss, about a week and a half. ---
**Author:** ![Strinka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strinka/32/512_2.png) [@Strinka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strinka)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2006, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-is-a-moment/362834/14 "2006-07-01T22:39:54Z")
I’d go say it’s a [Planck time](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planck_time) . 😉