time servicen.
/ˈtʌɪm ˌsəːvɪs/, U.S. /ˈtaɪm ˌsərvəs/ 1. = time-serving n. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > decision > irresolution or vacillation > inconstancy > [noun] > temporizing or trimming
time servicea1555
temporizing1590
time-serving1608
temporizement1647
trimming1696
time-servingness1742
temporization1761
tide-serving1819
mongrelism1831
mugwumpism1886
a1555 J. Bradford in J. Strype Memorials T. Cranmer (1694) iii. xvi. 364 This I ask, said he, for the Guerdon of my Time-service to thee, and to thy Father.
1749 London Mag. May 215/2 Every sentiment that honour has nursed, must give place to circumspection, time-service, cringing and lying.
1847 tr. J. W. von Goethe Auto-biogr. III. xii. 81 Constraint, then, disgraces no one, and time-service is not shameful.
1883 J. A. Symonds Shakspere's Predecessors (1900) v. 150 This freedom from time-service..give[s] a dignity to Heywood's character.
1928 Observer 7/4 Only those who were content, whether through weakness or through time service, to walk it could hope for high command in Afghanistan.
2. The provision by an observatory or other institution of the correct time as a public service.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > reckoning of time > [noun] > providing correct time to the community
time service1867
1867 Monthly Notices Royal Astron. Soc. 27 121 Of work performed, the next most constant and regular to the time-service by ball, and gun, and Jones's controlled clocks.., is the reduction of meteorological observations for Scotland.
1899 Athenæum 29 July 161/3 The time-service has also occupied part of the energy of the observatory.
1932 Punch 23 Nov. p. iii With the Clock Model you can take advantage of the free time service now available on most mains, and have accurate time always.
1989 Broadcast 18 Aug. 13/1 The BBC..pips..are now generated from the Royal Greenwich Observatory time service.
2007 Toronto Star (Nexis) 5 May k8 Make sure to use a precise source, such as the automated time service from the National Research Council of Canada.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2012; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.a1555