Difference: Meanwhile vs meantime

Meanwhile vs. meantime

Are they really the same? I've been using them interchangeably...

Solution 1:

The dictionary will tell you that they are synonymous; I will tell you that "meanwhile" is more common than "meantime", unless you say "in the meantime".

I would use "meanwhile", but "in the meantime" is a close second, with "meantime" dead last, in my opinion. (As you can see, "meantime" used to be as popular as "in the meantime", but now, it occurs more than ten times less.)

Solution 2:

Dictionary.com indicates that both words can be used as either a noun or adverb, but I've only heard meanwhile used as an adverb and meantime used as a noun.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch John was saddling up his horse.

My plane doesn't leave for another two hours, in the meantime I'll grab a bite to eat and catch up on some reading.