access time

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

ac′cess time′, [Computers.]

1. Computing the elapsed time from the instant that information is called from a storage unit to the instant it is received.
2. Computing the elapsed time from the instant that information is ready for storage to the instant it is stored. Cf. word time.

• 1945–50

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

access time noun

1. the time required to retrieve a piece of stored information