time stamp

noun

variants or timestamp

ˈtīm-ˌstamp 

plural time stamps or timestamps

1

: a stamping device used for recording the date and time of day on a document, envelope, etc. (as to indicate when it was received or sent out)

2

a

: an indication of the date and time stamped on a document, envelope, etc.

Problem was, a later check of the time stamp on the motion indicated that it had been filed nearly 40 minutes after Heinrich appeared before Wolf.

—Thanassis Cambanis

b

: an indication of the date and time recorded as part of a digital signal or file (such as an email, digital photograph, radio broadcast, or text message) indicating the time of creation, transmission, etc.

When you share that viral video, it carries a time stamp.

—Cosmopolitan

… highlighted a seeming discrepancy between the timestamps of the phone records and surveillance video, with the surveillance video suggesting the shooting happened a moment or two earlier than the phone records.

—Patrick Kernan

time-stamp

ˈtīm-ˌstamp 

transitive verb

time-stamped; time-stamping; time-stamps

The repository also contains time-stamped versions of your code …

—Jeff Jurvis

Examples of time stamp in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Ranch on the counter had no time stamp; time stamp was added. — Arkansas Online, 4 Sep. 2026

The days blend together with no time stamps, although Ullom occasionally reveals how many miles the car has gone. — Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 19 Aug. 2026

Workflows should preserve the sources, time stamps and version histories of datasets, images, text and emails. — Muhamad Aly Rifai, Forbes.com, 6 Aug. 2026

Some chicken and shrimp weren’t held at a safe temperature, and the sushi rice didn’t have a time stamp. — Harriet Ramos, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 2 Aug. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1855, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for time stamp

• firedamp
• amp
• champ
• clamp
• cramp
• damp
• gamp
• lamp
• ramp
• samp
• scamp
• tamp