metronome
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of metronome
1810–20; metro- 1 + -nome < Greek nómos rule, law
Explanation
Remember that little pyramid-shaped machine with the pendulum that clicked so agonizingly during your early piano lessons? Well, that was a metronome, a device that helps musicians keep to the tempo of the music. The metronome was invented in 1815 by a German engineer called Johann Maelzel, who was good friends with Beethoven. They even performed together, with Maelzel giving demonstrations of his device in the intervals. The metronome has come in for some criticism, but if it was good enough for Beethoven, it's probably good enough for you. The name comes from the Greek words metron for "measure," and nomus for "regulating."
Vocabulary lists containing metronome
Music - Introductory
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"The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak, Part Nine
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Music - Middle School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Trade the metronome as it swings back and forth, but don’t let the hypnotic sound lull you into complacency.
From Barron's • Apr. 22, 2026
"We're now starting to understand how the uterus acts as both a muscle and a metronome to ensure that labor follows the body's own rhythm."
From Science Daily • Jan. 13, 2026
The rhythm of it could be a metronome for this movie’s plot — it whips us around to the point of delighted collapse.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 23, 2025
These are the bluebloods, the old money of the investment world, steady as a metronome and just as thrilling.
From MarketWatch • Oct. 9, 2025
Matthew picked up the entire can, turned it upside down and drained the juice violently, his adam’s apple straining and pulsing like a metronome.
From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
