A timeshare is a form of ownership or right to the use of a property, or the term used to describe such properties. These properties are typically resort condominium units, in which multiple parties hold rights to use the property, and each sharer is allotted a period of time (typically one week, and almost always the same time every year) in which they may use the property. Units may be on a part-ownership or lease/"right to use" basis, in which the sharer holds no claim to ownership of the property.

The notion of the term "time-share" was originally created in Europe in the 1960s. Hapimag, a ski resort developer in the French Alps, was experiencing trouble finding customers for his high priced resort. Realizing that coffee shops sold cake only by the slice (since the entire cake was too expensive and could not be consumed at one sitting) he marketed his resort by encouraging guests to "stop renting a room" and, instead, "buy the hotel". Success followed and the concept of partial ownership was embraced by developers worldwide, boosting sales of surplus condominium units at a time when the resort industry was depressed.^{[citation needed]}