: the rate of speed of a musical piece or passage indicated by one of a series of directions (such as largo, presto, or allegro) and often by an exact metronome marking
The song has a slow tempo. The composition has many changes of tempo. We walked at a fast tempo. The tempo of the game slowed down. The dance starts out fast and then switches tempo.
Recent Examples on the WebIf McCray can continue to run new coach Eric Dooley’s up-tempo offense efficiently against the Tigers, Southern could have a more competitive showing than some might expect against its power-conference host. Mark Heim | Mheim@al.com, al, 10 Sep. 2022 What’s kind of fabulous about that scene was our tempo was so connected. Jordan Moreau, Variety, 7 July 2022 Since his introduction to Chicago, Bulls coach Billy Donovan consistently has emphasized his ideal style — up-tempo with a priority on pushing the ball up the court. Julia Poe, chicagotribune.com, 29 Jan. 2022 The tempo was still fast and the playbook still deliberately simple. Ryan Kartje, Los Angeles Times, 28 Aug. 2022 The increasing tempo of Ukraine’s Black Sea exports is the result of frenzied work in recent weeks by Ukrainian, Turkish, and U.N. officials who have been racing to operationalize the agreement since it was signed in July. William Mauldin, WSJ, 16 Aug. 2022 While eschewing ballads, Beyoncé finds ways to vary the tempo. Mosi Reeves, Rolling Stone, 29 July 2022 That's something Miami has to address by controlling tempo. Erick Smith, USA TODAY, 27 Mar. 2022 The Utes were the ones controlling tempo, walking the ball up the floor, often bleeding the shot clock to single digits in an effort to get a clean look. Josh Newman, The Salt Lake Tribune, 15 Jan. 2022 See More
Word History
Etymology
borrowed from Italian, "time, rate of speed (in music)," going back to Latin tempor-, tempus "time, period of time, season," of uncertain origin
Note: If it originally meant "extent, measure" (hence, "extent of time"), Latin tempus could go back to an s-stem noun *temp-es- derived from an Indo-European verb base *temp- "stretch, extend," seen in Lithuanian tempiù, tem͂pti "to stretch, bend (a bow)," tìmpa "sinew, bowstring," Tocharian A & B cämp- "be able to" (if "stretch, exert effort" > "exert sufficient effort, be able"), and perhaps Old Norse þǫmb "womb, guts, bowstring." Though these are possibilities, the sum of comparable evidence for the etymon is not overwhelming.