Time Zone Abbreviation Lookup
What does that time zone abbreviation mean?
CST, IST, BST — the abbreviations that mean two or three different things each, with every zone that uses them and the offset each implies.
Questions people ask
The things that come up about time zone abbreviation lookups, answered plainly.
What does CST mean?
At least three things: US Central Standard Time (UTC-6), China Standard Time (UTC+8) and Cuba Standard Time (UTC-5). There is no registry of these abbreviations and no rule against collisions.
What does IST mean?
India Standard Time (UTC+05:30), Irish Standard Time (UTC+1) or Israel Standard Time (UTC+2), depending entirely on who wrote it. This is why timestamps should carry an offset or a zone name rather than an abbreviation.
Related tools
Convert between zones, watch a board of cities, and find the hour that suits everyone.
Time Zone LookupSearch the full zone list, and see what one actually does: its current offset, its standard and summer offsets, its abbreviations and its next several transitions.
UTC Offset CalculatorThe current offset for any zone, in `+05:30` form and in minutes, with the standard and summer offsets and the dates it switches between them.
Time Zone ConverterOne instant, two clocks. Pick the zones, enter a time, and see what it reads in the other — with the date shift, the offset difference and any daylight-saving trap called out.
World ClockA live board of cities with their offsets, their daylight-saving state, and a read on whether it is morning, working hours or the middle of the night there.