timeline

noun

time·​line ˈtīm-ˌlīn 

variants or time line

plural timelines or time lines

1

a

: an arrangement or occurrence (as of past events) in time : chronology

After interviewing the suspect, the wardens pieced together a timeline of events and gathered enough evidence to file appropriate charges …

—Texas Parks and Wildlife Department

b

: a visual representation of events associated with a particular period of time arranged chronologically along a line or in a linear format

The book also includes a timeline, showing which dinosaurs lived when and where, and how the Earth has changed over millions of years.

—The Children's Bookwatch

In her "Foundations of Western Civilization" course … Prof. Julia Gossard has her students create a timeline of the history of food …

—Thomas Keith

c

: a schedule of planned events, actions, etc. : timetable sense 2

With just under a year left until your nuptials, here's what's next on your wedding planning timeline.

—Sarah Hanlon

Giving the client a say in every step of the project could create a delay and throw off the timeline …

—Katie Bates

2

: a period of time especially with respect to some project or event : time frame

And what's the timeline for implementing these changes?

—Mark Sovel

The stakes are high, and the timeline is tight.

—Rio Longacre

… school districts can't open before Labor Day and must end by June 15. But to meet that compressed timeline … , districts have had to consider trade-offs.

—Donna St. George

3

: a stream of social media posts : feed sense 3e

Algorithmic timelines quietly replaced chronological ones, until our social-media feeds no longer took direction from us, but rather directed us where they wanted us to go.

—Yair Rosenberg

And if there's something funny … I make sure to Retweet so others can cleanse their timeline and enjoy.

—Andy Richardson

4

: a branch of a theoretical multiverse that exists in parallel with other branches

… the notion that we're surrounded by a multitude of parallel selves, one of which might be living in a better timeline than the one we're stuck in.

—S. I. Rosenbaum

—used especially in science fiction

… Dune: Awakening is set in an "alternate" timeline from the original Frank Herbert novels, where something has happened to change the course of history.

—Wes Fenlon

Examples of timeline in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

There's no timeline on Jackson's injury as of yet, losing him for even one or two games could be detrimental to the Ravens' playoff chances. —Hunter Simpson, MSNBC Newsweek, 29 Sep. 2025

Though Tatum has expressed a desire to return this season, the Celtics haven’t put a timeline on the six-time All-Star’s recovery. —Jay King, New York Times, 28 Sep. 2025

While multiple human lineages have been discovered from this time, scientists have struggled to create a clear timeline. —Maria Mocerino, Interesting Engineering, 27 Sep. 2025

At a best-case scenario, the seven-month end of the recovery timeline would have Barkov available for the start of the Stanley Cup playoffs. —Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 27 Sep. 2025

As a result, the timeline for Homo sapiens and Homo neanderthalensis — archaic humans who disappeared from Europe and Central Asia around 40,000 years ago and are known to have lived alongside the Denisovans — has also been shifted. —Desiree Anello, PEOPLE, 27 Sep. 2025

According to the source familiar, there is not a timeline associated with the withdrawal of Israeli forces in that version of the plan. —Oren Liebermann, CNN Money, 26 Sep. 2025

The new limited series picks up five years after that storyline, delving further into the timeline where a horrible virus turned Earth's mightiest heroes (and villains) into flesh-eating monsters. —Allison Degrushe, Entertainment Weekly, 26 Sep. 2025

Selling off a partial manuscript can prolong the timeline for the project because of all of the developmental work still to do. —Dessi Gomez, Deadline, 26 Sep. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1907, in the meaning defined at sense 1