cadence

[keyd-ns] /ˈkeɪd ns/
noun, Also, cadency
1.
rhythmic flow of a sequence of sounds or words:
the cadence of language.
2.
(in free verse) a rhythmic pattern that is nonmetrically structured.
3.
the beat, rate, or measure of any rhythmic movement:
The chorus line danced in rapid cadence.
4.
the flow or rhythm of events, especially the pattern in which something is experienced:
the frenetic cadence of modern life.
5.
a slight falling in pitch of the voice in speaking or reading, as at the end of a declarative sentence.
6.
the general modulation of the voice.
7.
Music. a sequence of notes or chords that indicates the momentary or complete end of a composition, section, phrase, etc.
verb (used with object), cadenced, cadencing.
8.
to make rhythmical.
Origin
1350-1400; Middle English < Middle French < Italian cadenza; see cadenza
Synonyms
3. tempo, pulse, rhythm, meter.
Examples from the web for cadence
  • This ensures a steady cadence of publications for the next few years.
  • Three months after the earthquake, some of the customary cadence of life has returned.
  • Sacks is fond of swimming, and said the one-two-three cadence of his strokes often leads him to play a waltz in his mind.
  • Truth is, he's got a weird cadence that I never really captured.
  • He delivers a canned speech brilliantly in perfect cadence in his melodious voice.
  • Porter was impressed by what he calls “the rhythm and cadence” of Smith's text.
  • His last two sentences drip of evil irony and a neo-imperialist cadence.
  • The text has the cadence of poetry and is reminiscent of mythological tales.
  • He was a voracious reader and a lover of poetry and cadence.
  • The elegancy, facility, and golden cadence of poesy.
British Dictionary definitions for cadence

cadence

/ˈkeɪdəns/
noun (pl) -dences, -dencies
1.
the beat or measure of something rhythmic
2.
a fall in the pitch of the voice, as at the end of a sentence
3.
modulation of the voice; intonation
4.
a rhythm or rhythmic construction in verse or prose; measure
5.
the close of a musical phrase or section
Word Origin
C14: from Old French, from Old Italian cadenza, literally: a falling, from Latin cadere to fall
Word Origin and History for cadence
n.

late 14c., "flow of rhythm in verse or music," from Middle French cadence, from Old Italian cadenza "conclusion of a movement in music," literally "a falling," from Vulgar Latin *cadentia, from neuter plural of Latin cadens, present participle of cadere "to fall" (see case (n.1)). In 16c., sometimes used literally for "an act of falling." A doublet of chance (n.).

Encyclopedia Article for cadence

in music, the ending of a phrase, perceived as a rhythmic or melodic articulation or a harmonic change or all of these; in a larger sense, a cadence may be a demarcation of a half-phrase, of a section of music, or of an entire movement

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