tempo

noun tem·po \ ˈtem-(ˌ)pō \

|Updated on: 10 Jul 2018

plural tempi play \ˈtem-(ˌ)pē\ or tempos

1 : the rate of speed of a musical piece or passage indicated by one of a series of directions (such as largo, presto, or allegro) and often by an exact metronome marking

2 : rate of motion or activity : pace

See tempo defined for English-language learners

See tempo defined for kids

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 of tempo from the Web

Muddy Waters sang the blues with extraordinary control, keeping tempos slow and powerful, to maximize the tension and release of the form.

— john adamian, courant.com, "Britney Spears, Tory Lanez, Kimya Dawson: Seven Concert Highlights," 7 July 2018
This is a team that wants to establish control of games and set the pace and tempo by running the ball.

— SI.com, "Fantasy Football Preseason Reports: A Scout’s Take on Every Team," 5 July 2018
There’s very little familiar jazz rhythm, whether New Orleans style two-beat, big-band era 4/4 or faster bebop tempo.

— will friedwald, WSJ, "‘Live’ by Cyrille Aimée Review: A Fresh Spin on Old Records," 27 June 2018
The training tempo would increase due to the arrival of an additional 36 Growlers on Whidbey Island, which is the only place in the country where the Navy electronic warfare aircraft are based.

— hal bernton, The Seattle Times, "Navy releases plan for increased Growler aircraft training on Whidbey Island," 27 June 2018
If FC Cincinnati can enter the match bossing the possession and tempo from kickoff, the visitors should dictate play and earn another road win.

— charlie hatch, Cincinnati.com, "Toronto FC II vs. FC Cincinnati scouting report," 26 June 2018
Her guitar is still a focal point, but in these arrangements she and her band experiment with tempos in new and surprising ways.

— mike ayers, Time, "Courtney Barnett Proves She's Indie Rock’s Shining Light on Tell Me How You Really Feel," 17 May 2018
But Weiss offered a rather different approach, taking a brisk tempo and running fast figurations along the full stretch of the keyboard.

— howard reich, chicagotribune.com, "Pianist Michael Weiss evokes memories of Johnny Griffin," 22 June 2018
Maor offers a brief account of the invention of the metronome, a piece of technology for fixing and marking tempo and some of the ways in which this form of measurement has proved inspiring.

— paul grimstad, The New Republic, "Can You Measure How Good a Song Is?," 21 June 2018

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.

Origin and Etymology of tempo

Italian, literally, time, from Latin tempus

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: circa 1724

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

Other Music Terms

cacophony, chorister, concerto, counterpoint, madrigal, obbligato, presto, refrain, riff, segue

TEMPO Defined for English Language Learners

tempo

noun

: the speed at which a musical piece is played or sung
: the speed at which something moves or happens

TEMPO Defined for Kids

tempo

noun tem·po \ ˈtem-pō \

plural tempi \-ˌpē\ or tempos

: the rate of speed at which a musical composition is played or sung

Word Root of tempo

The Latin word tempus, meaning “time,”and its form temporis give us the roots temp and tempor. Words from the Latin tempus have something to do with time. Something temporary lasts only a short time. Someone or something contemporary lives or occurs at the same time as someone or something else. A tempo is the speed at which music is performed in time.