absolute date / absolute amount

15:05 May 10, 2021 

insert absolute date or date relative to STD means

absolute date = the time and date when the train departed

date relative to STD = time elapsed between the STD and when the train effectively departed

There is an interesting point of method: do you leave the jargon familiar to the form designer or you try to "translate" it into s.t. any Joe Public would understand?

S.t. along the lines of:

temps effectif de départ / retard par rapport à l'heure de départ prévue.

montant (effectivement) payé / coûts supplémentaires (par rapport à ...)

14:33 May 10, 2021 

someone using the terminology of maths, and in that jargon it makes perfect sense.

The only trouble is that for the average end-user of this form the intended meaning might not sound so obvious. Happens when form designers are stuck in their own jargon, instead of thinking of the intended users.

Look at what is the absolute vs the relative value of a variable for explanations.

Absolute date: the calendar date/time counted from the conventional starting point of the calendar

like 15h50min on the 10th of April 2021

it's simply a neutral statement of fact - no implication whatsoever that that date is any kind of "date butoir" / "date impérative" or earliest / latest / optional / compulsory date for anything.

Relative date: the same date expressed by reference to / relatively to another date

like 2 days and 3 hrs and 50 min after the Scheduled Departure Time (a not so hypothetical example, I was once stuck in a train about that late ...)

when it comes to money:

absolute amount = what was paid

relative amount = the difference relatively to some "reference amount"

It cost 50 (50 = absolute amount) 10 more than the expected price (10 = relative amount)

16:52 Mar 11, 2021 

Je n'ai malheureusement pas le temps de chercher le pourquoi, mais j'aurais tendance à utiliser "date arrêtée" et "somme arrêtée" (ou, à la rigueur, "date impérative" ou "somme impérative") plutôt que le littéral "absolu(e)", qui n'a d'ailleurs aucun des sens du mot ici (et que je n'ai encore jamais vu accolé à une date ou une somme dans un texte juridique).