initialism🔤 abbreviation
ETA
estimated time of arrival
What it means
ETA stands for 'estimated time of arrival' — when something or someone is expected to get somewhere. It started in travel and logistics but is now used loosely for anything: a delivery, a friend on the way, or a task being finished.
Words like “ETA” are exactly the kind of vocabulary our English vocabulary size test measures — find out how many English words you know.
Examples
- What's your ETA? We're already at the restaurant.
- The package has an ETA of Thursday.
- ETA on the new feature is about two weeks.
- Traffic is bad, so my ETA just jumped to 6:30.
Where it comes from
An initialism from aviation and shipping that spread into general use. Online it sometimes also means 'edited to add,' used when someone updates a post.
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