# duration

Pronunciation: US say "duh-RAY-shuhn" /dəˈɹeɪʃn̩/; UK say "juu-RAY-shuhn" /dʒʊˈɹeɪʃn̩/

## Noun

1. A length of time, or a particular interval during which something continues.
   - Simple: How long something lasts, or a set length of time.
   - _The duration of the meeting surprised everyone, running well past lunch._
   - _Scientists recorded the duration of each tremor in seconds._
2. The length of time until the present situation, especially an ongoing war, comes to an end.
   - Simple: The whole length of time that a situation, such as a war, keeps going until it ends.
   - _Factories switched to making weapons for the duration of the conflict._
   - _She volunteered as a nurse for the duration, returning home only when peace came._
3. A measure of how sensitive a financial asset's price is to changes in interest rates, based on the timing of its payments.
   - Simple: A number that shows how much a bond's price will change when interest rates go up or down.
   - _The fund manager shortened the portfolio's duration to reduce interest-rate risk._
   - _A zero-coupon bond's duration equals its time to maturity._

## Origin

From Middle English duracioun, from late Old French duracion, from Medieval Latin dūrātiō.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/duration (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).