real time

1. 1.

   the actual time that it takes a process to occur

   “information is updated in real time”

   Broadertime period
2. 2.

   (computer science) the time it takes for a process under computer control to occur

   Broadertime period

   computer science

Questions about real time

What does real time mean?

real time means "the actual time that it takes a process to occur". That is the primary sense; the word has 2 in total, listed in full on this page.

Is real time a common word?

real time is banded "Uncommon" — turns up in careful writing rather than conversation. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.