tem·po / ˈtempō/ • n. (pl. -pos or -pi / -pē/ ) 1. Mus. the speed at which a passage of music is or should be played.2. the rate or speed of motion or activity; pace: the tempo of life dictated by a heavy workload.

tempo, tempi (It.). Time(s). The speed at which a piece of mus. is perf. The anglicized ‘tempos’ is an acceptable plural, like ‘concertos’. Among the many mus. terms containing the word are the following: a tempo, resume orig. speed; tempo a piacere, please yourself what speed; tempo comodo, at a comfortable or moderate speed; tempo di ballo, in dance time, or a movt. in dance style; tempo di gavotta, in gavotte tempo; tempo di minuetto, in minuet time; tempo giusto, in exact time, or at speed the style of the mus. demands; tempo maggiore, same as alla breve (take the half-note as your beat unit); tempo minore, tempo ordinario, ordinary time, moderate speed, same speed as before; tempo primo, resume orig. speed; tempo rubato, see rubato; tempo wie vorher (Ger.), same as tempo primo.

tempo Speed at which a piece of music should be performed, usually indicated on a score, in western music, by Italian words, such as allegro (fast) and adagio (slow).

tempo (mus.) relative speed or rate of movement. XVIII. — It. :- L. tempus time.