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rhythm - 7 dictionary results

rhythm

  [rith-uhm]
Use rhythm in a Sentence
–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. rheîn to flow

Related forms:
rhythmless, adjective

Synonyms:
9. flow, pulse, cadence.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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rhythm   (rĭth'əm)   
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.]
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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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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Language Translation for : rhythm
Spanish: ritmo,
German: der Rhythmus,
Japanese: リズム
More Translations »

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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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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Main Entry: rhythm
Pronunciation: 'rith-&m
Function: noun
1 : a regularly recurrent quantitative change in a variable biological process:as a : the pattern of recurrence of the cardiac cycle rhythm> b : the recurring pattern of physical and functional changes associated withthe mammalian and especially human sexual cycle
2 : RHYTHM METHOD
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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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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