The DICT Development Group

  coordinated universal time
       n : Greenwich Mean Time updated with leap seconds [syn: UTC]

  Coordinated Universal Time
       
           (UTC, World Time) The standard time common to
          every place in the world.  UTC is derived from International
          Atomic Time (TAI) by the addition of a whole number of "leap
          seconds" to synchronise it with Universal Time 1 (UT1), thus
          allowing for the eccentricity of the Earth's orbit, the
          rotational axis tilt (23.5 degrees), but still showing the
          Earth's irregular rotation, on which UT1 is based.
       
          Coordinated Universal Time is expressed using a 24-hour clock
          and uses the Gregorian calendar.  It is used in aeroplane
          and ship navigation, where it also sometimes known by the
          military name, "Zulu time".  "Zulu" in the phonetic alphabet
          stands for "Z" which stands for longitude zero.
       
          UTC was defined by the International Radio Consultative
          Committee ({CCIR), a predecessor of the ITU-T.  CCIR
          Recommendation 460-4, or ITU-T Recommendation X.680 (7/94),
          contains the full definition.
       
          The language-independent international abbreviation, UTC, is
          neither English nor French.  It means both "Coordinated
          Universal Time" and "Temps Universel Coordonne".
       
          BIPM
          http://www.bipm.fr/enus/5_Scientific/c_time/time_1.html)">(http://www.bipm.fr/enus/5_Scientific/c_time/time_1.html).
       
          The Royal Observatory Greenwich
          http://www.rog.nmm.ac.uk/leaflets/time/time.html)">(http://www.rog.nmm.ac.uk/leaflets/time/time.html).
       
          History of UTC and GMT
          http://ecco.bsee.swin.edu.au/chronos/GMT-explained.html)">(http://ecco.bsee.swin.edu.au/chronos/GMT-explained.html).
       
          U.S. National Institute of Standards & Technology
          http://www.its.bldrdoc.gov/fs-1037/dir-009/_1277.htm)">(http://www.its.bldrdoc.gov/fs-1037/dir-009/_1277.htm).
       
          UK National Physical Laboratory
          http://www.npl.co.uk/npl/ctm/time_scales.html)">(http://www.npl.co.uk/npl/ctm/time_scales.html).
       
          US Naval Observatory
          http://tycho.usno.navy.mil/systime.html)">(http://tycho.usno.navy.mil/systime.html).
       
          International Telecommunications Union
          http://www.itu.int/radioclub/rr/arts02.htm)">(http://www.itu.int/radioclub/rr/arts02.htm).
       
          Earth's irregular rotation
          http://www.foldoc.org/pub/earth_rotation)">(http://www.foldoc.org/pub/earth_rotation).
       
          (2001-08-30)