vremena

Vremena is the plural form of the neuter noun vreme in several South Slavic languages, most notably Serbian, Bosnian, and Croatian, where it means time as a general concept and, more often, distinct times or periods. It is commonly used to refer to historical eras or specific spans of time, and appears in phrases such as stara vremena (old times) or teška vremena (difficult times). Beyond the notion of time itself, vremena can denote eras, ages, or stages in a person’s life or in cultural history. In standard usage, it functions as a regular plural noun and is employed to discuss changes, contrasts, or sequences across different times.

Etymology and cognates: Vreme originates from Proto-Slavic *vremь and has recognizable cognates across Slavic languages, including Russian vreme/vremena. The form vremеna reflects a common semantic shift from a broad sense of time to a reference to multiple time periods or epochs. While related forms exist in related languages, each language varies in exact spelling and usage, especially when separating the general concept of time from its pluralized, period-specific senses.

Usage notes: In contemporary prose, vremena frequently collaborates with adjectives to specify the character of the time depicted (e.g., novo/staro vremena). It is often employed in historical, literary, and journalistic writing to evoke temporal progression or contrast. As with many language pairs, nuances can differ by dialect and standard variety, but the temel is a shared sense of multiple times or periods within the broader concept of time.