Time and a Word is the second studio album by English rock band Yes, first released in the UK on 24 July 1970 and later in the US on 2 November 1970 by Atlantic Records. It was put together several months after the release of the band's 1969 eponymous debut, during which they continued to tour heavily and recorded Time and a Word between shows. Yes continued to follow their early musical direction of performing original material and cover versions of songs by pop, jazz, and folk artists. A small orchestra of brass and string session musicians was used on most of the album's songs.

Guitarist Peter Banks did not support the idea of adding an orchestra to the album, resulting in increased tensions between him and the rest of the group. During their UK tour in April 1970, and before the album's release, Banks was fired by the band and replaced by Steve Howe. The UK album cover was considered inappropriate for the American market, so a photograph of the band was used; due to the lineup change, this put Howe on the cover of an album on which he did not perform.

Time and a Word received mixed reviews from critics, but became the band's first release to enter the UK Albums Chart, peaking at number 45. It did not chart in the United States. In 2003 the album was remastered with several previously unreleased tracks.

After the release of their debut album Yes in July 1969 for Atlantic Records, Yes resumed extensive touring across the UK. The line-up of the group at this time included lead vocalist Jon Anderson, guitarist Peter Banks, bassist Chris Squire, drummer Bill Bruford, and organist Tony Kaye. Towards the end of 1969, they booked time at Advision Studios in London during gaps between shows to record Time and a Word. In a November 1969 interview during a tour of Switzerland, Bruford talked about the album, saying Anderson was "pouring out new numbers for us to play ... Usually he writes a tune and we listen to the tape and take it from there". At Advision, Yes were joined by producer Tony Colton, a friend of Anderson's who was also the singer of the rock band Heads Hands & Feet. Phil Carson, the European managing director of Atlantic and a fan of the band, brought in audio engineer Eddy Offord to assist Colton in the album's production because of his skills and hard work. Offord would become a key figure in the band's history in the 1970s as their producer and live sound mixer.

The group continued to follow their early musical direction of performing original material and rearranged versions of songs by other pop, jazz, and folk performers. They followed the same format as Yes: an album of eight tracks with two covers. A discussion amongst Squire, Anderson, and Colton during the writing process led to the decision of incorporating orchestral arrangements into some of their new songs. Anderson wished to use an orchestra as their new ideas needed additional sounds. He observed that Banks and Kaye had not worked together to create a strong sound that their new arrangements required. To attempt to solve this, the group discussed using a Mellotron and tested one out, but the idea fell through. Instead, a brass section of session players and a string section formed of students from the Royal College of Music were hired to perform arrangements written and conducted by Tony Cox.

Time and a Word was met with "Yes-style controversy", as described by band biographer and reporter Chris Welch. Banks became the most outspoken member over his issues surrounding the album which began the strain on his relationship with the rest of the group. He did not support the idea of an orchestra and thought it merely followed what rock bands Deep Purple and the Nice had already done. He argued it merely played parts originally written for the guitar or organ, leaving his active participation to the album a minimum or his guitar buried into the album's mix. Banks also disagreed with the decision to have Colton produce the album and claimed that Colton lacked the experience and personally disliked Banks and his playing. Colton's ability was also questioned by Squire, who recalled one incident during the mixing of "No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed", by which time Banks' replacement Steve Howe had joined and attended; Colton mixed the song using "a crappy pair of cans that did not reproduce bass", rather than using the studio's monitoring equipment. Colton asked for more bass, but Squire and Howe noticed that the bass levels on the monitors were already high. In 1995, Offord said that he too thought Colton had not been the right person to produce the band at that time.

The album's six original tracks are credited to Anderson with either Squire or David Foster, Anderson's former bandmate in The Warriors. Banks said he made contributions to the writing of the album, but his name was not included in the credits. It did not bother him at first, but it caused some discontent years later when he missed out on royalties. Time and a Word marked a development in Anderson's lyric content, who began to move from simple love themes to topics of greater scale, described by band biographer Dan Hedges as "life, oneness and the future".

"No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed", the album's opening track, was written by American artist Richie Havens. It opens with an orchestral theme taken from the soundtrack to the 1958 Western film The Big Country by Jerome Moross.