Time has the world's largest circulation as a weekly news magazine, and has a readership of 25 million, 20 million of which are in the US.

Time was created in 1923 by Briton Hadden and Henry Luce, making it the first weekly news magazine in the United States. The two had previously worked together as chairman and managing editor respectively of the Yale Daily News. It set out to tell the news through people, and for many decades the magazine's cover was of a single person. Since 2000, the magazine has been part of AOL Time Warner, which subsequently reverted to the name Time Warner in 2003.

Time initially possessed a distinctive writing style, making regular use of inverted sentences. Time is known for its signature red border，introduced in 1927. The border has only been changed thrice since 1927. The issue released shortly after the September 11 attacks on the United States featured a black border to symbolize mourning. This edition was a special “extra” edition published quickly for the breaking news of the event； the next regularly scheduled issue contained the red border. Additionally, the April 28, 2008,Earth Day issue, dedicated to environmental issues, contained a green border. The most recent change in border was in the September, 2011 issue, commemorating the 10th anniversary of September 11 attacks with a metallic silver border.

Time's most famous feature throughout its history has been the annual “Person of the Year” cover story, in which Time recognizes the individual or group of individuals who have had the biggest impact on news headlines over the past 12 months. In the past, such figures as Adolf Hitler,Franklin D. Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin have been Man of the Year. In recent years Time has assembled an annual list of the 100 most influential people of the year.

Time is also one of the important reading sources of Crazy English.