An indication of the meter of a musical composition, usually presented in the form of a fraction; the lower number indicates the unit of measurement, and the upper number indicates the number of units that make up a measure.

the indication of the basic rhythm of a bar within a piece. It looks like an arithmetic fraction: The upper number indicates the number of beats to a bar, and the lower number indicates how the beats should be measured.

An indicator of the meter of a musical work, usually presented in the form of a fraction, the denominator of which indicates the unit of measurement and the numerator of which indicates the number of units that make up a measure.

See time signature.