noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A device, containing an inverted pendulum, used to mark time by means of regular ticks at adjustable intervals; an electronic equivalent that emits flashes.

   "The etudes with metronome markings should be played in tempo, all others should be considered rubato."

2. 2
   clicking pendulum indicates the exact tempo of a piece of music wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

batondiapasonmonochordmusic standmuteoscillator

Example

More examples

"Beethoven's tempo was strange because his metronome was broken."

Etymology

Coined in English from Ancient Greek μέτρον (métron, “measure”) + νόμος (nómos, “regulation, law”).

Related phrases

Maelzel's metronomemark time

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.