Moment (time)
A moment is a medieval unit of time equal to 1.5 minutes or 1/40 of an hour. In modern English it usually refers to "a short period of time", the exact length remaining ambiguous. The reference is from John of Trevisa, writing in 1398 that there are 40 moments in an hour (thus the 90 seconds). However, this definition is from an archaic version of the Oxford English Dictionary and is not in current usage today. So it would be more accurate to say that while a medieval moment was ninety seconds, modern moments are much shorter.
Read more about Moment (time): Rega
Famous quotes containing the word moment:
“The moment the very name of Ireland is mentioned, the English seem to bid adieu to common feeling, common prudence, and common sense, and to act with the barbarity of tyrants, and the fatuity of idiots.”
—Sydney Smith (1771–1845)