Vrijeme

Vrijeme is a term used in Croatian and Bosnian (and in Serbian with the related form vreme) to denote two related but distinct concepts: time and weather. In these languages, vrijeme refers to the progression of moments as a dimension in which events occur, as well as to atmospheric conditions at a given place and moment. In formal contexts, vrijeme for time is used when talking about clocks, schedules, deadlines; for weather it refers to conditions such as temperature, precipitation, wind, and sky cover.

In the sense of time, vrijeme is used with time-related phrases and measurements, such as minute, hour, day, and year, and is linked to cultural notions of punctuality and planning. In meteorology, vrijeme appears in weather forecasts, reports, and daily news, describing current conditions and expected changes over hours or days.

Across Croatian and Bosnian media and education, vrijeme is a fundamental everyday word, often serving as a bridge between spoken language and scientific or technical terms. Its dual meaning can lead to ambiguity if context is unclear, but typical usage relies on surrounding words to convey whether one speaks of time or of the weather.

See also: Time; Weather; South Slavic languages.