# Time limit

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{{Short description|Amount of time to complete a task}}
[[File:Elementary Education Deadlines.jpg|thumb|Deadlines announced on a school noticeboard in [Orem, Utah](/source/Orem%2C_Utah)]]
A '''time limit''' or '''deadline''' is a fixed point in time or a bounded time interval, by which a task or objective must be completed. Once that time has passed, the item may be considered overdue (for example, a work project or [school assignment](/source/school_assignment)). In a professional context, missing a [deadline](/source/Time_limit) can negatively affect an employee's [performance evaluation](/source/performance_evaluation), while in education, late submissions such as [essay](/source/essay)s or reports may result in grade deductions.

In some cases, no materials can be submitted after the deadline. Examples include [calls for proposal](/source/Call_for_Proposals), commercial [tender](/source/Request_for_tender)s for bids, the handling of [court case](/source/court_case)s,<ref>Ministry of Justice, [https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/rules/part02 Civil Procedure Rule 2], accessed on 21 October 2025</ref> and application dates for universities and [professional school](/source/professional_school)s. For tests and examinations in schools, universities and job competitions, once the time limit for the test is up, the test-takers must put down their pens or pencils and hand in their test.

In [project management](/source/project_management), deadlines are most often associated with [milestones](/source/Milestone_(project_management)).

==Etymology==
There is only indirect evidence that the term ''deadline'' in the sense of "due date" may be connected with the use of the term in prison camps during the [American Civil War](/source/American_Civil_War), when it referred to a physical line or boundary beyond which prisoners were shot.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/andersonville-prison|title=Andersonville Prison |date=18 December 2008 |publisher=American Battlefield Trust |access-date=2020-05-15}}</ref> In fact, the term is no longer found in print by the end of the 19th century, but it soon resurfaces in writing in 1917 as a printing term for "a guideline on the bed of a printing press beyond which text will not print".<ref name=maven>{{cite web|url=http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=20000420 |title=The Mavens' Word of the Day |publisher=Randomhouse.com |date=2000-04-20 |access-date=2013-08-30 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131016215332/http://www.randomhouse.com:80/wotd/index.pperl?date=20000420 |archive-date=2013-10-16 }}</ref> Three years later, the term is found in print in the sense of "time limit" in the closely connected publishing industry, indicating the time after which material would not make it into a newspaper or periodical.<ref name=maven/>

== Further reading ==
* ''[The Deadline Effect: How to Work Like It's the Last Minute-Before the Last Minute](/source/The_Deadline_Effect),'' book by journalist Christopher Cox

== References ==
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Category:Broad-concept articles
Category:Planning
Category:Schedule (project management)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Time limit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_limit) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_limit?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.