time stamp

noun

variants or timestamp

ˈtīm-ˌstamp 

plural time stamps or timestamps

1

: a stamping device used for recording the date and time of day on a document, envelope, etc. (as to indicate when it was received or sent out)

2

a

: an indication of the date and time stamped on a document, envelope, etc.

Problem was, a later check of the time stamp on the motion indicated that it had been filed nearly 40 minutes after Heinrich appeared before Wolf.

—Thanassis Cambanis

b

: an indication of the date and time recorded as part of a digital signal or file (such as an email, digital photograph, radio broadcast, or text message) indicating the time of creation, transmission, etc.

When you share that viral video, it carries a time stamp.

—Cosmopolitan

… highlighted a seeming discrepancy between the timestamps of the phone records and surveillance video, with the surveillance video suggesting the shooting happened a moment or two earlier than the phone records.

—Patrick Kernan

time-stamp

ˈtīm-ˌstamp 

transitive verb

time-stamped; time-stamping; time-stamps

The repository also contains time-stamped versions of your code …

—Jeff Jurvis

Examples of time stamp in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

An employee put on gloves without washing their hands first, some food in the display case didn’t have a time stamp and mouse droppings were found in the restroom. —Harriet Ramos, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 28 Mar. 2026

Upon arrival of the specialist, staff was observed placing time stamps on foods approximately 30 minutes after display. —Sacbee.com, 27 Mar. 2026

The blurring appears to be covering a line of text on the surveillance footage near the top of the images, just under the time stamp. —Sophie Carson, jsonline.com, 12 Mar. 2026

The department said the photos and videos do not include date or time stamps. —Claire Carter, The Washington Examiner, 24 Feb. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1855, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for time stamp

• firedamp
• amp
• champ
• clamp
• cramp
• damp
• gamp
• lamp
• ramp
• samp
• scamp
• tamp