millisecond

noun

mil·​li·​sec·​ond ˈmi-lə-ˌse-kənd 

-kənt

: one thousandth of a second

Did you know?

A millisecond isn't long enough for the blink of an eye, but a few milliseconds may determine the winner of a swim race or a hundred-yard dash. With the ever-increasing speed of modern technology, even a millisecond has started to seem a little sluggish; computer operations are now measured in nanoseconds—that is, billionths of a second.

Examples of millisecond in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The delay between command and movement was about 48 milliseconds, which is fast enough to feel almost real time. —Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 13 Mar. 2026

Quartz movements are highly accurate, capable of keeping time to within milliseconds per day. —Andrew P. Collins, The Drive, 12 Mar. 2026

The result of any one baseball game can be traced back to pitching changes or lineup decisions – but it can also be chalked up to an extra inch of break on a pitch or a millisecond of hesitation on a swing. —Hannah Keyser, CNN Money, 12 Mar. 2026

Musk has long talked about reducing Starlink's latency to under 20 milliseconds. —Michael Kan, PC Magazine, 12 Mar. 2026

Word History

Etymology

International Scientific Vocabulary

First Known Use

1909, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for millisecond

• femtosecond
• microsecond
• nanosecond
• picosecond
• beckoned
• reckoned
• second
• seconde

Kids Definition

millisecond

noun

mil·​li·​sec·​ond ˈmil-ə-ˌsek-ənd 

also -ənt

: one thousandth of a second

Medical Definition

millisecond

noun

mil·​li·​sec·​ond ˈmil-ə-ˌsek-ənd, -ənt 

: one thousandth of a second

—abbreviation ms, msec