Timestamp

A timestamp is a sequence of characters or encoded information identifying when a certain event occurred, usually giving date and time of day, sometimes accurate to a small fraction of a second. Timestamps do not have to be based on some absolute notion of time, however. They can have any epoch, can be relative to any arbitrary time, such as the power-on time of a system, or to some arbitrary time in the past.

For Unix (POSIX) timestamp, see Unix time.

An actual time-stamp from around 1960.

A distinction is sometimes made between the terms datestamp, timestamp and date-timestamp:

  • Datestamp or DS: A date, for example 2025-05-25 according to ISO 8601
  • Timestap or TS: A time of day, for example 16:13:43 using 24-hour clock
  • Date-timestamp or DTS: Date and time, for example 2025-05-25, 16:13:43
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