What does the block time signify?

I’ve all the time been below the impression {that a} block’s timestamp represents the second at which a block was discovered.

For this to be true, it will appear that the time header area should be modified together with nonce and probably different fields within the mining loop(s).

However I do not see that there’s something implementing {that a} miner does this. If not, then a miner may begin mining a block at say 04:30:25 and discover the block approx ten minutes later at 04:40:55, however the block could have timestamp 04:30:25. As long as 04:30:25 is later than the earlier block, it ought to nonetheless fulfill consensus guidelines and be accepted by different nodes.

If my evaluation is appropriate, then it appears the most effective we are able to do is infer what the timestamp represents by evaluating it to the time at which different nodes really obtained the block.

And I consider that by conference, it does usually signify the second of discovering the block. However I think about there could also be exceptions present within the blockchain.

So, have I bought this proper? Can anybody succinctly state what the block time time area really represents?

Eg, if I needed to place a label in a block explorer, maybe with a one sentence description, what ought to the label and sentence be, such that I’m not deceptive customers?