rhythm
/ˈɹɪð.əm/ noun, verb
Forms rhythms rhythming rhythmed
- noun The variation of strong and weak elements (such as duration, accent) of sounds, notably in speech or music, over time; a beat or meter. “Dance to the rhythm of the music.”
- noun A specifically defined pattern of such variation. “Most dances have a rhythm as distinctive as the Iambic verse in poetry”
- noun A flow, repetition or regularity. “Once you get the rhythm of it, the job will become easy.”
- noun The tempo or speed of a beat, song or repetitive event. “We walked with a quick, even rhythm.”
- noun The musical instruments which provide rhythm (mainly; not or less melody) in a musical ensemble. “The Baroque term basso continuo is virtually equivalent to rhythm”
- noun A regular quantitative change in a variable (notably natural) process. “The rhythm of the seasons dominates agriculture as well as wildlife”
- noun Controlled repetition of a phrase, incident or other element as a stylistic figure in literature and other narrative arts; the effect it creates. “The running gag is a popular rhythm in motion pictures and theater comedy”
- noun A person's natural feeling for rhythm. “That girl's got rhythm, watch her dance!”
- verb (transitive) To impart a (particular) rhythm to.
Synonyms
rhythm section meter metre prosody beat musical rhythm regular recurrence cycle round speech rhythm rhythm method of birth control rhythm method calendar method of birth control calendar method
Etymology
First coined in 1557, from Latin rhythmus, from Ancient Greek ῥυθμός (rhuthmós, “any measured flow or movement, symmetry, rhythm”), from ῥέω (rhéō, “to flow, run, stream, gush”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun In the widest sense, a dividing into short portions by a regular succession of motions, impulses, sounds, accents, etc., producing an agreeable effect, as in music poetry, the dance, or the like.
- noun Movement in musical time, with periodical recurrence of accent; the measured beat or pulse which marks the character and expression of the music; symmetry of movement and accent. Moore (Encyc. )
Etymology [F. rhythme, rythme, L. rhythmus, fr. GR. Stream.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “rhythm”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details