Sekondë

Sekondë is the Albanian term for the SI base unit of time, commonly known in English as the second. It denotes a duration that is fundamental to measuring time in science, engineering, and everyday life. The sekondë is defined by a precise atomic transition in the cesium-133 atom and serves as the reference for timekeeping worldwide. The symbol used for the unit in the SI system is s. In ordinary usage, measurements are divided into smaller units such as milliseconds and microseconds, while longer periods are expressed in minutes, hours, and days. In Albanian, the singular form is sekondë and the plural is sekonda.

The sekondë is defined by the duration of 9,192,631,770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between two hyperfine levels of the ground state of cesium-133. This atomic definition provides the basis for highly accurate clocks and time dissemination. Conversions within the metric time framework are straightforward: 1 minutë equals 60 sekonda, 1 orë equals 3,600 sekonda, and 1 ditë equals 86,400 sekonda. The sekondë is the cornerstone of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) and related time standards used globally.

History and standards: The second has been defined through atomic standards since 1967, when it was tied to the cesium-133 transition. In 2019, the definition was refined to fix the numerical value of the cesium frequency at exactly 9,192,631,770 Hz, ensuring an exact, universal unit of time for scientific and practical use.

Etymology: The term sekondë derives from Latin secunda, via French seconde, reflecting its adoption into Albanian through European scientific and metrological traditions.