time signature

noun

: a sign used in music to indicate meter and usually written as a fraction with the bottom number indicating the kind of note used as a unit of time and the top number indicating the number of units in each measure

Examples of time signature in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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With its fast-changing time signatures and off-kilter melodies, this song is treacherous ground for any singer. Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 May 2025 The title track, a suite of cosmic grandeur and dizzying time signatures, breathes deeper in this mix, with Chris Squire’s bass rumbling like tectonic shifts under Steve Howe’s serpentine guitar work. Darryn King, Forbes, 15 Mar. 2025 The Rainbow tracks feature drummer Alan White, who handles hours of intricate time signatures with aplomb. Ernesto Lechner, Rolling Stone, 6 Mar. 2025 Penned by Noël Coward in the early 1930s, jazz vocalist Dinah Washington’s take on desire at a distance was produced and arranged by Jones and played by his orchestra as something slower and more simmering than its usual 4/4 time signature. A.d. Amorosi, Variety, 4 Nov. 2024 See All Example Sentences for time signature

Word History

First Known Use

1841, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of time signature was in 1841

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Cite this Entry

“Time signature.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/time%20signature. Accessed 20 May. 2025.

Kids Definition

time signature

noun
: a sign used to indicate musical meter and usually written with one number above another with the bottom number indicating the kind of note used as a unit of time and the top number indicating the number of these units in each measure

More from Merriam-Webster on time signature

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