timeline

noun

time·​line ˈtīm-ˌlīn 

variants or time line

plural timelines or time lines

1

a

: an arrangement or occurrence (as of past events) in time : chronology

After interviewing the suspect, the wardens pieced together a timeline of events and gathered enough evidence to file appropriate charges …

—Texas Parks and Wildlife Department

b

: a visual representation of events associated with a particular period of time arranged chronologically along a line or in a linear format

The book also includes a timeline, showing which dinosaurs lived when and where, and how the Earth has changed over millions of years.

—The Children's Bookwatch

In her "Foundations of Western Civilization" course … Prof. Julia Gossard has her students create a timeline of the history of food …

—Thomas Keith

c

: a schedule of planned events, actions, etc. : timetable sense 2

With just under a year left until your nuptials, here's what's next on your wedding planning timeline.

—Sarah Hanlon

Giving the client a say in every step of the project could create a delay and throw off the timeline …

—Katie Bates

2

: a period of time especially with respect to some project or event : time frame

And what's the timeline for implementing these changes?

—Mark Sovel

The stakes are high, and the timeline is tight.

—Rio Longacre

… school districts can't open before Labor Day and must end by June 15. But to meet that compressed timeline … , districts have had to consider trade-offs.

—Donna St. George

3

: a stream of social media posts : feed sense 3e

Algorithmic timelines quietly replaced chronological ones, until our social-media feeds no longer took direction from us, but rather directed us where they wanted us to go.

—Yair Rosenberg

And if there's something funny … I make sure to Retweet so others can cleanse their timeline and enjoy.

—Andy Richardson

4

: a branch of a theoretical multiverse that exists in parallel with other branches

… the notion that we're surrounded by a multitude of parallel selves, one of which might be living in a better timeline than the one we're stuck in.

—S. I. Rosenbaum

—used especially in science fiction

… Dune: Awakening is set in an "alternate" timeline from the original Frank Herbert novels, where something has happened to change the course of history.

—Wes Fenlon

Examples of timeline in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noe emphasizes that the timeline for such releases is driven by the whiskey itself, not by external deadlines. —Rachel King, Forbes, 6 Jan. 2025

Expiration Date: Every online gambling real money no deposit bonus has a set timeline to activate the offer and complete the playthrough requirements. —Matthew Gover, Miami Herald, 6 Jan. 2025

Worryingly, there appears to be no timeline for the return of Mads Hermansen. —Rob Tanner, The Athletic, 5 Jan. 2025

Authorities have been piecing together his movements and on Sunday released more details about his timeline. —Carlie Kollath Wells, Axios, 5 Jan. 2025

Now, after President-elect Trump and other prominent Republicans vowed to take action to ban transgender athletes from women's sports prior to the election, there is a timeline for when that action may begin. —Jackson Thompson, Fox News, 4 Jan. 2025

Officials have not yet published a detailed timeline for the project. —Dan Perry, Newsweek, 3 Jan. 2025

And so that's sort of a rough timeline of those events leading up to the horrible attack. —Taylor Wilson, USA TODAY, 3 Jan. 2025

Cons: Longer timeline, risk of fragmented, inconsistent systems, limited immediate impact. —Siddharth Gawshinde, Forbes, 19 Dec. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1907, in the meaning defined at sense 1