tatum
/ˈteɪtəm/noun
tatum is spelled T-A-T-U-M: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 2.1 times per million words in written English, the 19,077th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, tatum means “The shortest statistically significant time interval between successive notes in a rhythmic phrase or a musical piece” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of tatum is tatums.
How many letters and syllables are in tatum?
| Letters | 5: T-A-T-U-M |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.1 times per million words; the 19,077th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is tatum?
Tatum appears 2.1 times per million words in written English, the 19,077th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce tatum?
- /ˈteɪtəm/
- /ˈtætəm/
- /ˈtɑːtəm/
Tatum has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Forms of tatum
- tatums plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does tatum mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The shortest statistically significant time interval between successive notes in a rhythmic phrase or a musical piece.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does tatum come from?
Coined by American computer scientist Jeffrey A. Bilmes in 1993, initially as a blend of temporal + atom, but deliberately changed from tatom to tatum to honor master jazz pianist Art Tatum, who was known for his exceptional celerity.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).