Terminology: Units of Time

The terminology for most units of time are inspired by music. This is believed to be because of the status of melodians as early keepers of history and tradition. For some units of time, the omruns look to the movement of the celestial bodies they can see – the orbs.

• Beat. Equivalent to a second. There are exactly 1.18 Earth seconds in a beat.
• Measure. Equivalent to a minute. There are 50 beats in a measure. The measure is therefore equal to 59 Earth seconds.
• Bar. Equivalent to an hour. There are 50 measures to a bar. The bar is therefore equal to about 49.17 Earth minutes.
• Rotation. Equivalent to a day. This is often shortened to rote. There are 30 bars in a rotation, making one rote equal to about 24.583 Earth hours.
• Movement. Equivalent to a month. Sometimes shortened to move. There are 40 rotes in a move. The movement is equivalent to about 40.972 Earth days.
• Gyration. Equivalent to one year. This is frequently shortened to gyre (pronounced \ˈjir\ or jeer). There are 360 rotes in a gyre, making one gyre equal to about 1.01 Earth years or 368.75 Earth days.
• Score. There are 20 gyres in a score, making one score equal to about 20.192 Earth years.
• Composition. There are 100 gyres in a composition, making one composition equal to about 100.958 Earth years.

There are other, less common, units of time. “Cycle” is used in many rural communities and refers to a period of 100 rotes that is a typical harvest season from beginning to end. “Tick” is a tiny unit equal to approximately 1/10 of a beat that is used in some scholarly circles. There is a sensitivity working that aids magi in measuring this brief unit. An “octet” is a historical unit of time that is composed of 8 rotes. It fell into disuse a dozen or more scores ago but is seen in aging manuscripts and scrolls.

There has been ardent debate amongst rolled scholars as to why the modern units of time are a mix of musical and celestial terms. One popular theory espouses the idea that there were once two distinct systems for measuring time and they merged in the distant past. With melodians being the gatekeepers of the ancient past, and the pride they take with the music-based terminology, some scholars have accused the melodians of concealing the truth. A subset of this argument involves the movement unit. The word could refer to the movement of the orbs across the sky or a movement in a musical arrangement. The ambiguity will likely never be resolved and which of the two timekeeping systems it originated with is only really of interest to the most cerebral of historians.