millisecond

noun

mil·​li·​sec·​ond ˈmi-lə-ˌse-kənd 

-kənt

: one thousandth of a second

Did you know?

A millisecond isn't long enough for the blink of an eye, but a few milliseconds may determine the winner of a swim race or a hundred-yard dash. With the ever-increasing speed of modern technology, even a millisecond has started to seem a little sluggish; computer operations are now measured in nanoseconds—that is, billionths of a second.

Examples of millisecond in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The first customers are mostly high-frequency trading firms that could benefit financially from getting official government news milliseconds before others. — Jon Brodkin, ArsTechnica, 12 Aug. 2026

For high-frequency trading machines, milliseconds can mean serious money. — David Goldman, CNN Money, 11 Aug. 2026

The four-motor layout enables advanced millisecond-level torque vectoring, allowing software to independently modulate power delivery to each wheel to maximize grip, cornering performance, and high-speed stability. — New Atlas, 7 Aug. 2026

For firms that spend millions of dollars chasing advantages in the race to execute trades, those milliseconds can be worth far more than the six-figure subscription price. — Joshua Hong, Fortune, 4 Aug. 2026

Word History

Etymology

International Scientific Vocabulary

First Known Use

1909, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for millisecond

• femtosecond
• microsecond
• nanosecond
• picosecond
• beckoned
• reckoned
• second
• seconde

Kids Definition

millisecond

noun

mil·​li·​sec·​ond ˈmil-ə-ˌsek-ənd 

also -ənt

: one thousandth of a second

Medical Definition

millisecond

noun

mil·​li·​sec·​ond ˈmil-ə-ˌsek-ənd, -ənt 

: one thousandth of a second

—abbreviation ms, msec