Meanings
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA vertical line in musical notation used to separate two bars or measures.
Similar
nounSynonym of crossline (“type of headline”).
Similar
Also see
Translations
Bulgarian тактова черта
- тактова черта (taktova čerta)vertical line across a staff
Chinese Mandarin 小節線 /小节线
- 小節線 /小节线 (xiǎojiéxiàn)vertical line across a staff
Dutch maatstreep
- maatstreepvertical line across a staff
Finnish tahtiviiva
- tahtiviivavertical line across a staff
French barre de mesure
- barre de mesurevertical line across a staff
German Taktstrich
- Taktstrichvertical line across a staff
Greek διαστολή
- διαστολή (diastolí)vertical line across a staff
Icelandic taktstrik
- taktstrikvertical line across a staff
Italian sbarretta
- sbarrettavertical line across a staff
Māori tapa, paetapa
- tapavertical line across a staff
- paetapavertical line across a staff
Persian خط میزان
- خط میزان (xatt-e mizân)vertical line across a staff
Polish kreska taktowa
- kreska taktowavertical line across a staff
Portuguese barra de compasso
- barra de compassovertical line across a staff
Russian та́ктовая черта́, такт
- та́ктовая черта́ (táktovaja čertá)vertical line across a staff
- такт (takt)vertical line across a staff
Spanish barra de compás
- barra de compásvertical line across a staff
Swedish taktstreck
- taktstreckvertical line across a staff
Cite this entry
APA
bar line. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bar%20line
MLA
“bar line.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bar%20line. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bar line,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bar%20line.
Source: bar line on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.