Standard Lemma guide

millisecond

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈmɪlɪˌsɛkənd/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: M IH1 L IH0 S EH2 K AH0 N D Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

An SI unit of time equal to 10−3 seconds. Symbol: ms

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: metrology

Examples

  • Holonyms: centisecond < decisecond < second < decasecond < minute < hectosecond < kilosecond < hour < day < week < megasecond < fortnight < month < year < gigasecond < century < kiloannum, kiloyear, millennium < terasecond < mega-annum, megayear < petasecond < giga-annum, gigayear < exasecond < zettasecond < yottasecond < ronnasecond < quettasecond
  • Meronyms: quectosecond < rontosecond < yoctosecond < zeptosecond < attosecond < femtosecond < picosecond < nanosecond < microsecond
  • The suggestion that pulsars were rotating neutron stars was put forth independently by Thomas Gold and Franco Pacini in 1968, and was soon proven beyond reasonable doubt by the discovery of a pulsar with a very short (33-millisecond) pulse period in the Crab nebula.W

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

one thousandth (10^-3) of a second

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: msec

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: time unit, unit of time

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *sem- Proto-Indo-European *sm̥- Proto-Indo-European *-is Proto-Indo-European *-h2 Proto-Indo-European *-ih2 Proto-Indo-European *smih2 Proto-Indo-European *ǵhes- Proto-Indo-European *-lom Proto-Indo-European *ǵhéslom ▲ Proto-Indo-European *-ih2 Proto-Indo-European *ǵhéslih2 Proto-Indo-European *smih2ǵhéslih2 Proto-Italic *smīɣeslī Latin mīlleder. French milli- English milli- English second English millisecond From milli- + second.

Across languages

Translations

36 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: مِيلِي ثَانِيَة (milī ṯāniya) — one one-thousandth of a second
  • Armenian: միլիվայրկյան (milivayrkyan) — one one-thousandth of a second
  • Bulgarian: ми́лисекунда (mílisekunda) — one one-thousandth of a second
  • Catalan: mil·lisegon — one one-thousandth of a second
  • Chinese Mandarin: 毫秒 (háomiǎo) — one one-thousandth of a second
  • Czech: milisekunda — one one-thousandth of a second
  • Danish: millisekund — one one-thousandth of a second
  • Dutch: milliseconde — one one-thousandth of a second
  • Finnish: millisekunti — one one-thousandth of a second
  • French: milliseconde — one one-thousandth of a second
  • Georgian: მილისეკუნდი (miliseḳundi) — one one-thousandth of a second
  • German: Millisekunde — one one-thousandth of a second
  • Greek: μιλιδευτερόλεπτο (milidefterólepto) — one one-thousandth of a second
  • Haitian Creole: milisgond — one one-thousandth of a second
  • Hungarian: milliszekundum — one one-thousandth of a second
  • Hungarian: ezredmásodperc — one one-thousandth of a second
  • Icelandic: millisekúnda — one one-thousandth of a second
  • Italian: millisecondo — one one-thousandth of a second
  • Japanese: ミリ秒 (miri-byō) — one one-thousandth of a second
  • Japanese: ミリセカント (mirisekanto) — one one-thousandth of a second
  • Korean: 밀리초 (millicho) — one one-thousandth of a second
  • Korean: 밀리세컨드 (millisekeondeu) — one one-thousandth of a second
  • Lithuanian: milisekundė — one one-thousandth of a second
  • Maltese: millisekonda — one one-thousandth of a second
  • Norwegian: millisekund — one one-thousandth of a second
  • Polish: milisekunda — one one-thousandth of a second
  • Portuguese: milissegundo — one one-thousandth of a second
  • Romanian: milisecundă — one one-thousandth of a second
  • Russian: миллисеку́нда (millisekúnda) — one one-thousandth of a second
  • Slovak: milisekunda — one one-thousandth of a second
  • Slovene: milisekunda — one one-thousandth of a second
  • Spanish: milisegundo — one one-thousandth of a second
  • Swedish: millisekund — one one-thousandth of a second
  • Turkish: milisaniye — one one-thousandth of a second
  • Ukrainian: мілісеку́нда (milisekúnda) — one one-thousandth of a second
  • Vietnamese: một phần nghìn giây — one one-thousandth of a second