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  • You can also inquire where a particular command is coming from using the command type -a <cmd>. Commented Aug 10, 2013 at 18:29
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    command doesn't bypass builtins (except in zsh when not emulating other shells). It bypasses functions and that's the main reason for its existence. Its second role is to remove the special in special builtins. It bypasses aliases and keywords only because those are only expanded in first position (in zsh for instance, it doesn't bypass global aliases). There is no time bash builtin. time is a keyword so you can do for instance time { foo; bar; }. Commented Aug 10, 2013 at 21:14
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    @StephaneChazelas By all means feel free to edit that into the answer to provide a more accurate description. command works in this particular case, as exemplified, but obviously a correct answer is better than a half-right one. Commented Aug 11, 2013 at 10:44
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    The last part of your answer is wrong. time is not a shell builtin, but rather a shell keyword. builtin time doesn't work. Commented May 18, 2015 at 23:40
  • similar to command would be to just quote it: 'time' echo test Commented May 17, 2016 at 0:04