time signature

noun

A symbol or numerical sign placed on a stave to indicate the meter; in the case of a numerical time signature, the numerator is the number of beats per bar, the denominator represents the value of each beat.

Similar
musical time signature
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Meanings

nountime signature (plural time signatures)

plural time signatures

  1. entertainmentA symbol or numerical sign placed on a stave to indicate the meter; in the case of a numerical time signature, the numerator is the number of beats per bar, the denominator represents the value of each beat.
  2. metonymicallyentertainmentThe meter of a given piece.

    Most bluegrass banjo music is played in a time signature of either 4/4 or 3/4.

    2015 May 27, Bill Evans, Bluegrass Banjo For Dummies, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 44

Synonyms & antonyms

nouna musical notation indicating the number of beats to a measure and kind of note that takes a beat

Similar
musical time signature
Broader
musical notation

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 拍號 /拍号
  • 拍號 /拍号 (pāihào)numerical sign
Dutch maatsoort
  • maatsoortnumerical sign
Esperanto taktindiko
  • taktindikonumerical sign
Finnish tahtilaji
  • tahtilajinumerical sign
French chiffrage de mesure
  • chiffrage de mesurenumerical sign
German Taktangabe
  • Taktangabenumerical sign
Hungarian ütemmutató, ütemjelzés
  • ütemmutatónumerical sign
  • ütemjelzésnumerical sign
  • ütemjelzőnumerical sign
Korean 박자표
  • 박자표 (bakjapyo)numerical sign
Norwegian taktartsangivelse
  • taktartsangivelsenumerical sign
Persian کسر میزان
  • کسر میزان (kasr-e mizân)numerical sign
Portuguese fórmula de compasso
  • fórmula de compassonumerical sign
Romanian metru, metru muzical
  • metrunumerical sign
  • metru muzicalnumerical sign
Russian разме́р
  • разме́р (razmér)numerical sign
Scottish Gaelic tìde-àidhre
  • tìde-àidhrenumerical sign
Spanish quebrado de compás, cifra de compás
  • quebrado de compásnumerical sign
  • cifra de compásnumerical sign
Swedish tempobeteckning, taktbeteckning
  • tempobeteckningnumerical sign
  • taktbeteckningnumerical sign
Welsh arwydd amser
  • arwydd amsernumerical sign
Cite this entry
APA

time signature. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/time%20signature

MLA

“time signature.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/time%20signature. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “time signature,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/time%20signature.

Source: time signature on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.