678: second Oct 16, 2016

For most words, there is a reason that people use them, especially if the word can mean more than one idea. A second is called such because it is the third division of periods of time within a day...sort of. The first is a division of the day into two sets of twelve hours, which was devised at least a few thousand years ago. The Greeks took this originally Egyptian model, defined the hours more precisely, and then divided that further into minutes and seconds, more or less as we know them today. The term 'second' comes in because it is the second sexagesimal division: a sixtieth of a sixtieth of an hour. 'Minute' also comes from the concept of division, as it comes from the Latin for 'lessen'. For more on 'minute', see this post.