by the time

English

Conjunction

by the time

1. When (some future event has come to pass).

   I'll be an old man by the time you finish!

   It was ready by the time he arrived.

   It had been just finished by the time of his arrival.

   • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:

     But Miss Thorn relieved the situation by laughing aloud, […] . By the time we reached the house we were thanking our stars she had come. Mrs. Cooke came out from under the port-cochere to welcome her.

   • 1965, Jimmy Webb (lyrics and music), “By the Time I Get to Phoenix”:

     By the time I get to Phoenix she'll be rising. She'll find the note I left hanging on her door.

Usage notes

There is some continuing situation until the event shown by by the time. There is no such presupposition for when.

Also by the time that.

Translations

when — see when

when

• Bikol Central: mabuyo (bcl)
• French: au moment où (fr), avant que (fr), d’ici à ce que, le temps que
• Polish: do czasu
• Spanish: para cuando

References

• “by the time”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.