What does temporality mean?
Temporality names the condition of being bound to time. It can refer broadly to the way human experience, objects, and events unfold within temporal limits, and it often carries the implication that something is temporary, changeable, or finite. In literary analysis, temporality has a more specific meaning: the ordering and arrangement of events in time, including the ways a story moves between past, present, and future. The word is also used in philosophy and theology when discussing the contrast between temporal existence and timeless or eternal being. Because it is more abstract and intellectually formal than the adjective temporary, temporality is not normally used in casual conversation to mean merely “lasting a short time.” Its usefulness lies in making the relationship between time and existence explicit: it distinguishes not only the brevity of a life or event but also the structural role of time in experience and narrative.
nounThe quality or state of being subject to time, especially of being temporary or existing within a particular span of time. In literary and philosophical contexts, it can also refer to the arrangement of events and experiences in time.
- The quality or condition of existing in time or being subject to change and duration.
- The arrangement or order of events and experiences in time, especially in a narrative.
- The quality of being temporary or lasting for a limited period.
"The temporality of human life gives ordinary moments a sense of urgency and direction."
"The temporality of human life gives ordinary moments a sense of urgency and direction."
"The novel disrupts narrative temporality by moving repeatedly between past and present."
The regular plural form is uncommon outside specialized or philosophical writing.
"Different traditions describe the temporalities of human experience in distinct ways."
Temporality is the word for the fact that even memory has a before and after.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does temporality come from?
Temporality comes from Latin temporalitas, a noun meaning the condition of being temporal or relating to time. Its ultimate root is Latin tempus, “time,” which also underlies temporal, temporary, and temporize. English acquired the word in contexts concerned with duration, time, and temporal relations before literary and philosophical usage made it especially prominent.
Related word forms
How temporality is actually used
Temporality is formal and abstract. It is especially common in philosophy, theology, literary criticism, and discussion of time, while ordinary speech usually uses phrases such as “the temporary nature of life.”
Easily confused with temporality
Temporality is the condition of being bound to time, whereas temporary describes something that lasts for only a short period.