response time

response time (plural response times)

1. (biology, medicine) The period of time between the application of a stimulus and the associated response from a cell or tissue.
   • 1896, The medical chronicle, page 136:

     Professor G. Fano (Florence), after accurately determining the "latent period," or "response time," following faradic stimulation of a given motor area

2. The time taken for a person (or human-controlled system) to respond to a request.
   • 1931 September 2, “Police Praise Radio as Best Crime Weapon”, in Chicago Tribune:

     the average response time on a call was 3.1 minutes

3. (electronics) The time taken for the display of an instrument to move to a new value following a step change.
4. (computing) The period of time between a request for a service and the associated response; typically the request is caused by a user at a terminal hitting the return key, and the response is displayed on a screen.

• fractal response time