Tide is an obsolete or archaic term for time, period or season. It survives in compounds such as Yuletide, eventide, shrovetide, Eastertide, noontide, etc.

A simple noun tide was used synonymously with time and as a unit of time with hour in Old English and Middle English, but this usage became obsolete in the 15th century and survives only in occasional poetic reference to "occasion" or "favourable, proper time". Contemporary English narrows the application of the word to the tides of the sea.

Etymology

The term "tide" has cognates in other Germanic languages, including Dutch (tijd) and German (Zeit). In German, one word for the tides of the sea (Gezeiten) is based on the root Zeit, indicating a relationship between these two words that is no longer present to the same degree in English (German also has 'tide', pl. 'tieden' which is a homonym to 'Gezeiten'). The Anglo Saxon word 'tyd', from which the 'tide' is derived, means 'seasons' in a general sense.

Sundials and tides

Secular use

Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of gravitational forces exerted by the Moon, Sun, and rotation of the Earth.

The times and amplitude of tides at a locale are influenced by the alignment of the Sun and Moon, by the pattern of tides in the deep ocean, by the amphidromic systems of the oceans, and the shape of the coastline and near-shore bathymetry (see Timing). Some shorelines experience a semi-diurnal tide - two nearly equal high and low tides each day. Other locations experience a diurnal tide - only one high and low tide each day. A "mixed tide"; two uneven tides a day, or one high and one low, is also possible.

Tides vary on timescales ranging from hours to years due to a number of factors. To make accurate records, tide gauges at fixed stations measure the water level over time. Gauges ignore variations caused by waves with periods shorter than minutes. These data are compared to the reference (or datum) level usually called mean sea level.

A tide is the rise and fall of a sea level caused by the Moon's gravity and other factors.

Tide may also refer to:

Media

Music

Sports

Transport

Other uses

Tide ASA is a public transport company in Hordaland, Norway which resulted from the merger of Gaia Trafikk and Hardanger Sunnhordlandske Dampskipsselskap (HSD). The company provides the public transit network in the city of Bergen, and most of the bus service in Hordaland on contract with Skyss. Tide also runs the buses in northern Rogaland on contract with Kolumbus.

The group has two daughter companies, Tide Buss AS that operates the scheduled busses, and the leiseure travel company Tide Reiser AS that also operates express, airport and charter buses and chartered ferries and fast passenger craft. The largest owners are Det Stavangerske Dampskibsselskap (75%) and Sparebanken Vest (10%). The company is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange with head offices in Bergen.

Formerly, Tide operated the passenger- and car ferry routes previously operated by HSD and Stavangerske, with the daughter company Tide Sjø.

Assets

At the time of the merger, Tide had a total of