durata

Durata is an Italian noun meaning the length of time something lasts or the interval between its start and end. It is used in Italian and in translations to English as duration, and appears in disciplines ranging from music and film to physics and finance. The word comes from Latin durata, feminine form of duratus, derived from durare, “to last.” Cognate terms appear in many languages, including durée in French and duration in English.

In music, durata denotes how long a note, rest, or passage lasts, and is influenced by tempo, time signature, and expressive timing. In film, television, and theater, durata refers to running time or the length of an individual scene or act. In science and everyday usage, duration is used to describe the time interval between two events, from milliseconds to hours or longer.

In computing, a duration specifies elapsed time, timeouts, delays, or the length of processes and tasks. In finance, duration is a technical measure of a fixed-income instrument’s price sensitivity to changes in interest rates; Italian-language texts may distinguish durata, durata modificata (modified duration), and durata effettiva (effective duration). In contract law and project management, durata indicates the formal length of an agreement, lease, or project phase.

Durata is therefore a flexible term used across contexts to express how long something persists. It is closely related to the general English term duration and to broader concepts of time and responsiveness in various professional fields.