metronome

noun

met·ro·nome ˈme-trə-ˌnōm

: a device designed to mark exact time by a regularly repeated tick

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The patent for the metronome was entered in 1816: "John Malzl [sic], of Poland-street, Middlesex, Machinist; for an instrument . . . which he denominates a Metronome, or musical time-keeper." The courts, however, later proved that the aforementioned Johann Maelzel copied a pendulum design of Dietrich Winkel, making Winkel the actual inventor. Nonetheless, Maelzel was the more successful marketer of the metronome and even has a notation named after him. The "M.M." in notations like "M.M. = 60" stands for "Maelzel's metronome" and indicates a tempo of 60 beats per minute or a beat per tick of the metronome as it ticks 60 times, in the case of our example. The name of the invention itself is based on the Greek words metron, meaning "measure," and nomos, meaning "law."

Examples of metronome in a Sentence

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These 19th-century hacks presage a 21st-century example: In response to insurance companies that offer discounts for those who use fitness trackers, the satirical project Unfit Bits suggests ways to trick your step tracker, such as by attaching the device to a metronome. —

Jacqueline D. Wernimont, Smithsonian Magazine, 20 Nov. 2024 The metronome of Spain’s team is undoubtedly Rodri, but Germany’s out-of-possession approach was excellent in the first half — preventing the Manchester City midfielder dictating the play. —

James McNicholas, The Athletic, 5 July 2024 Most novelists freely pump the gas and the brakes, zipping through the boring bits to get to the good ones, but his pacing is remorselessly steady, the metronome locked at 60, one second per second. —

Lev Grossman, The Atlantic, 30 Sep. 2024 Walking through the halls of one of the building’s cavernous wings, past scribbles of graffiti and below giant concrete stairwells, our footsteps echo like a metronome. —

Lale Arikoglu, Condé Nast Traveler, 17 Aug. 2024 See all Example Sentences for metronome