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rhythm
7 dictionary results for: Rhythm
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
rhythm       [rith-uhm] Pronunciation Key
–noun
1.movement or procedure with uniform or patterned recurrence of a beat, accent, or the like.
2.Music.
a.the pattern of regular or irregular pulses caused in music by the occurrence of strong and weak melodic and harmonic beats.
b.a particular form of this: duple rhythm; triple rhythm.
3.measured movement, as in dancing.
4.Art, Literature. a patterned repetition of a motif, formal element, etc., at regular or irregular intervals in the same or a modified form.
5.the effect produced in a play, film, novel, etc., by the combination or arrangement of formal elements, as length of scenes, speech and description, timing, or recurrent themes, to create movement, tension, and emotional value in the development of the plot.
6.Prosody.
a.metrical or rhythmical form; meter.
b.a particular kind of metrical form.
c.metrical movement.
7.the pattern of recurrent strong and weak accents, vocalization and silence, and the distribution and combination of these elements in speech.
8.Physiology. the regular recurrence of an action or function, as of the beat of the heart, or the menstrual cycle.
9.procedure marked by the regular recurrence of particular elements, phases, etc.: the rhythm of the seasons.
10.regular recurrence of elements in a system of motion.
[Origin: 1550–60; < L rhythmus < Gk rhythmós; cf. rheǐn to flow]

—Related forms
rhythmless, adjective

—Synonyms 9. flow, pulse, cadence.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
rhythm       (rĭth'əm)  Pronunciation Key 
n.  
  1. Movement or variation characterized by the regular recurrence or alternation of different quantities or conditions: the rhythm of the tides.
  2. The patterned, recurring alternations of contrasting elements of sound or speech.
  3. Music
    1. The pattern of musical movement through time.
    2. A specific kind of such a pattern, formed by a series of notes differing in duration and stress: a waltz rhythm.
    3. A group of instruments supplying the rhythm in a band.
    4. The pattern or flow of sound created by the arrangement of stressed and unstressed syllables in accentual verse or of long and short syllables in quantitative verse.
    5. The similar but less formal sequence of sounds in prose.
    6. A specific kind of metrical pattern or flow: iambic rhythm.
    7. The sense of temporal development created in a work of literature or a film by the arrangement of formal elements such as the length of scenes, the nature and amount of dialogue, or the repetition of motifs.
    8. A regular or harmonious pattern created by lines, forms, and colors in painting, sculpture, and other visual arts.
    1. The pattern or flow of sound created by the arrangement of stressed and unstressed syllables in accentual verse or of long and short syllables in quantitative verse.
    2. The similar but less formal sequence of sounds in prose.
    3. A specific kind of metrical pattern or flow: iambic rhythm.
    4. The sense of temporal development created in a work of literature or a film by the arrangement of formal elements such as the length of scenes, the nature and amount of dialogue, or the repetition of motifs.
    5. A regular or harmonious pattern created by lines, forms, and colors in painting, sculpture, and other visual arts.
    1. The sense of temporal development created in a work of literature or a film by the arrangement of formal elements such as the length of scenes, the nature and amount of dialogue, or the repetition of motifs.
    2. A regular or harmonious pattern created by lines, forms, and colors in painting, sculpture, and other visual arts.
  6. The pattern of development produced in a literary or dramatic work by repetition of elements such as words, phrases, incidents, themes, images, and symbols.
  7. Procedure or routine characterized by regularly recurring elements, activities, or factors: the rhythm of civilization; the rhythm of the lengthy negotiations.


[Latin rhythmus, from Greek rhuthmos; see sreu- in Indo-European roots.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
rhythm 
c.1557, from L. rhythmus "movement in time," from Gk. rhythmos "measured flow or movement, rhythm," related to rhein "to flow," from PIE base *sreu- "to flow" (see rheum). In M.L., rithmus was used for accentual, as opposed to quantitative, verse, and accentual verse was usually rhymed. Rhythm method of birth control attested from 1940. Rhythm and blues, U.S. music style, is from 1949.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
rhythm

noun
1. the basic rhythmic unit in a piece of music; "the piece has a fast rhythm"; "the conductor set the beat" 
2. recurring at regular intervals 
3. an interval during which a recurring sequence of events occurs; "the never-ending cycle of the seasons" [syn: cycle] 
4. the arrangement of spoken words alternating stressed and unstressed elements; "the rhythm of Frost's poetry" 
5. 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) [syn: rhythm method of birth control] 

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
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American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition - Cite This Source - Share This
rhythm

The “beat” of music; the regular pattern of long and short notes. Certain kinds of music, such as blues or marches, have a very characteristic rhythm. Rhythm, harmony, and melody are elements of music.


The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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American Heritage Stedman's Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

rhythm (rĭ&phonth;'əm)
n.
Movement or variation characterized by the regular recurrence or alternation of different quantities or conditions, as in the heartbeat.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Rhythm

Rhythm\, n. [F. rhythme, rythme, L. rhythmus, fr. Gr. ??? measured motion, measure, proportion, fr. "rei^n to flow. See Stream.]

1. 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.

2. (Mus.) 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.)

3. A division of lines into short portions by a regular succession of arses and theses, or percussions and remissions of voice on words or syllables.

4. The harmonious flow of vocal sounds.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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