Definition of TEMPO

Examples of tempo in a Sentence

The song has a slow tempo. The composition has many changes of tempo. We walked at a fast tempo. The tempo of the game slowed down. The dance starts out fast and then switches tempo.

Recent Examples on the Web

DeVito, who prefers to set up in the pocket, has shown improvement in the up-tempo attack despite a young offensive line dealing with an injury to center Sam Heckel. — Mark Heim | Mheim@al.com, al, "Clemson vs. Syracuse 2019 live stream; time, TV channel, odds, watch online," 14 Sep. 2019 Not content with reinventing the fundamental understanding of what a striker can be in a direct, high-tempo team under Jurgen Klopp, his feats have opened the doors of the Premier League to a new generation of attackers from his native country. — SI.com, "Roberto Firmino: How Liverpool's 50-Goal Star Has Helped Inspire a New Generation of Brazilians," 9 Sep. 2019 Shorter and simpler The Revolution weren’t fazed by the change in dimensions last season and were able to maintain an up-tempo pace to their game. — Dan Shulman, BostonGlobe.com, "Revolution’s keys to victory against NYCFC," 6 Sep. 2019 The Golden Flashes, 2-10 overall and 1-7 in the Mid-American Conference last season, run an an up-tempo spread offense, so the Sun Devils will have to be on their toes. — Michelle Gardner, azcentral, "ASU defense will have to keep pace with Kent State up-tempo offense," 26 Aug. 2019 The air temperature dropped as the New York singer came to the stage and delivered a set of cool, mid-tempo love songs that took the festival past midnight. — Chris Varias, Cincinnati.com, "Bobby Brown makes for memorable Cincinnati Music Festival," 27 July 2019 Berhalter has undertaken a bold remake of the national team, rejuvenating what had become an old roster under Bruce Arena and introducing a high-tempo attacking style. — Kevin Baxter, latimes.com, "Soccer! USWNT is the greatest program in soccer history, men’s or women’s," 9 July 2019 Petty liked Oats’ pitch, relishing the idea of operating in an up-tempo style of basketball that entails spreading the floor, shooting from the perimeter and scoring in transition. — Rainer Sabin | Rsabin@al.com, al.com, "Why John Petty chose to stay at Alabama," 20 June 2019 Its composition and tempo strike just the right balance between intention and accident. — David Pagel, Los Angeles Times, "Why the Snapchat exhibition at LACMA looks cool but ultimately rings hollow," 14 Sep. 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'tempo.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

History and Etymology for tempo

borrowed from Italian, "time, rate of speed (in music)," going back to Latin tempor-, tempus "time, period of time, season," of uncertain origin

Note: If it originally meant "extent, measure" (hence, "extent of time"), Latin tempus could go back to an s-stem noun *temp-es- derived from an Indo-European verb base *temp- "stretch, extend," seen in Lithuanian tempiù, tem͂pti "to stretch, bend (a bow)," tìmpa "sinew, bowstring," Tocharian A & B cämp- "be able to" (if "stretch, exert effort" > "exert sufficient effort, be able"), and perhaps Old Norse þǫmb "womb, guts, bowstring." Though these are possibilities, the sum of comparable evidence for the etymon is not overwhelming.

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