Scholars have been seemingly arguing for as long as memory recalls the various peoples gazing up at the stars about the nature of time and the universe. With the exception of dangerous and poorly understood magical interference, time does and has always seemingly moved in one direction - forward. Natural philosophy therefore argues that time itself must have had a beginning, and clerical understanding is that time began alongside the initial creation of everything else in the knowable universe. If this is true, it would have been specifically created with purposeful design in mind. Time being consistent in its duration seemingly confirms this theory. No doubt throughout history, many different species have used different ways of keeping track of this passing of moment after moment. However, a standardized form of time-keeping was established during the Old Empire, centuries ago, and is generally used by all sentient races in the known world.
Subdivision of Time
Year
When the celestial body we commonly call the Sun completes a full revolution around our together-home, it is considered that one full year has passed.
The Sun
Clearly, the Sun is a powerful and possibly divine celestial being, whose radiance and magnitude wanes and waxes throughout the year, but whose orbit remains stable and consistent. Obviously, as the universe was designed to house us creatures, so our together-home is in the center of our universe and the Sun orbits around us. To think otherwise would be silly, surely.
Moon
The Sun's heavenly companion - the Moon - likewise passes around our together-home a fixed number of times. By the time of the twelfth complete passage of the Moon, a new year has started. During each passage, the Moon's appearance shifts over time. Scholars called astronomers who specialize in such things, classify these shifting appearances as "phases" the Moon goes through. If you start counting the number of full day-and-night cycles (or, more commonly, "days"), from the time the Moon cannot be seen at all - which is called "New Moon" - it takes a total of 30 days for the Moon to complete its passage.
Moons
The peasantry surely has its own names for each of the passages of the Moon throughout the year. The different non-human races also have their own customs and names for things, but especially to the Elves - to whom the Moon is a sacred Goddess - and the Halflings - to whom the agricultural tracking of time borders on zealous - hold the Moon and its passages in the greatest of esteem. The Dwarves that live underground even claim that based on the levels of groundwater and other strange phenomena, tracking the passages is a part of their culture, albeit to a lesser extent than those of us who live underneath the open sky. Nevertheless, here is a list of names commonly used by the human lay-folk in these parts for the Names of the Moons.
Day
Consistently and conveniently, this means that the year lasts a total of exactly 360 day-and-night cycles or days. Scholars specialized in the study of patterns, shapes, and numbers called mathematicians proclaim that this is no coincidence and must be very deliberately chosen by the divine powers that shaped the known universe. These scholars have also adopted this same system of subdivision in 360 parts for other areas of their study, such as in use for the construction of buildings or measurements of angles and shapes.
Time of Day
Whilst ingenious ways of subdividing the day into smaller parts have been attempted and suggested by scholars and tinkerers throughout the ages, it has proved challenging to implement these universally due to the complexity required. For most people, it is also not that important the exact moment in the day. If we define a day as a full day-and-night cycle, then the first subdivision is simply: the light hours and the dark hours. However, the day is usually divided into 4Parts of the Day: morning, midday, evening, and night.
Season
Keeping track of the passing moons is a convenient way to track the progression of the year. Many lay-folk, especially those who depend on tilling the soil, living under the sky, or herding or hunting beasts, further subdivide the year into three distinct groupings of four moon-passings each: Sow, Reap, and Fallow.
Sow
When the third Moon of the year rises until the Sun is at its highest and brightest is considered the Sowing Season, or simply Sow. It is when life returns to the fields and trees, when birds lay their eggs and most beast have their young. Effectively, this means that Sow lasts from the 60th day of the year up to the 180th day of the year. The fourth New Moon of the year - on the 90th day - coincides with what the astronomers call the "Sow Equinox", or the first time of the year that day and night last an equal duration of time. The farmers use this season to prepare their fields and to plant their crops.
Reap
When the Sun is at its highest and it burns with its fullest force, is when the Reaping Season - or Reap - starts. The astronomers call this event the "Reap Solstice". Reap is when the focus of the farmers shifts from planting their crops to harvesting their crops, from rearing the young animals to preparing the older animals for slaughter in preparation for the harsh season ahead. The season lasts a total of four Moons, effectively from the 180th day of the year to the 300th day of the year. The second time of the year that the day and night last an equal duration of time - the "Reap Equinox" on the 270th day of the year - signals that soon the Fallow Season will be upon us.
Fallow
"When the fields all lie fallow, when all is covered by ice and snow, is when one will truly know friend from foe", so goes a famous line from the poet Malwyn. During Fallow, the fields are left bare in preparation for the new Sowing Season, and animals are brought inside to survive the harsh winter. Most plants will shed their leaves and flowers except the harshest ones. True, food, water and shelter can always be found in the wilderness even during this harshest of seasons, but it is a miserable existence out there for us civilized folk. The "Fallow Equinox" signals the end of the current year and the beginning of the new year.