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cadence

 - 4 dictionary results

ca⋅dence

  [keyd-ns] noun, verb, -denced, -denc⋅ing.
–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, esp. 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)
8. to make rhythmical.
Use cadence in a Sentence
Origin:
1350–1400; ME < MF < It cadenza; see cadenza

Synonyms:
3. tempo, pulse, rhythm, meter.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.
Cite This Source Link To cadence
ca·dence   (kād'ns)   
n.   pl. ca·denc·es

  1. Balanced, rhythmic flow, as of poetry or oratory.

  2. The measure or beat of movement, as in dancing or marching.

    1. A falling inflection of the voice, as at the end of a sentence.

    2. General inflection or modulation of the voice.

  4. Music A progression of chords moving to a harmonic close, point of rest, or sense of resolution.


[Middle English, from Old French *cadence, from Old Italian cadenza, from Vulgar Latin *cadentia, a falling, from Latin cadēns, cadent-, present participle of cadere, to fall; see kad- in Indo-European roots.]
ca'denced adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

cadence 
c.1384, "flow of rhythm in verse or music," from M.Fr. cadence, O.It. cadenza "conclusion of a movement in music," lit. "a falling," from V.L. *cadentia, from L. cadens prp. of cadere "to fall" (see case (1)). In 16c., sometimes used literally for "an act of falling." The It. form cadenza was borrowed 1836 as a musical term for "ornamental passage near the close of a song or solo."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Encyclopedia

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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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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