Rhythm
WordNet
noun
(1) Natural family planning in which ovulation is assumed to occur 14 days before the onset of a period (the fertile period would be assumed to extend from day 10 through day 18 of her cycle)
(2) Recurring at regular intervals
(3) The arrangement of spoken words alternating stressed and unstressed elements
"The rhythm of Frost's poetry"
(4) The basic rhythmic unit in a piece of music
"The piece has a fast rhythm"
"The conductor set the beat"
(5) An interval during which a recurring sequence of events occurs
"The never-ending cycle of the seasons"
WiktionaryText
Etymology
First coined 1557, from from < .
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.
- A specifically defined pattern of such variation
- Most dances have a rhythm as distinctive as the Iambic verse in poetry
- A flow, repetition or regularity.
- Once you get the rhythm of it, the job will become easy.
- The tempo or speed of a beat, song or repetetive event.
- We walked with a quick, even rhythm.
- 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
- A regular quantitative change in a variable (notably natural) process
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- The rhythm of the seasons dominates agriculture as well as wildlife
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- Controled 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
Synonyms
- meter / metre
- prosody
- (instruments providing rhythm) rhythm section