I. ˈrithəm noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle French & Latin; Middle French rhythme, from Latin rhythmus, from Greek rhythmos measure, rhythm, measured motion; akin to Greek rhein to flow — more at stream
1. obsolete : rhyme
2.
a. : an ordered recurrent alternation of strong and weak elements in the flow of sound and silence in speech including the grouping of weaker elements around stronger, the distribution and relative disposition of strong and weak elements, and the general quantitative relations of these elements and their combinations
b. : a particular example or form of rhythm
the rhythm of Homeric verse
Sapphic rhythm
iambic rhythm
3.
a. : the forward movement of music : the temporal pattern produced by the grouping and balancing of varying stresses and tone lengths in relation to an underlying steady and persisting succession of beats : the aspect of music comprising all the elements (as accent, meter, time, tempo) that relate to forward movement as contrasted with pitch sequence or tone combination
b. : a symmetrical and regularly recurrent grouping of tones according to accent and time value
rumba rhythm
c. : a particular typical accent pattern that groups the beats of a composition or movement into measures
six-eight rhythm
d. or rhythm section : the group of instruments (as in a dance or jazz band) that supplies the rhythm
the sound of the cornet … is a very stirring sound indeed, especially when accompanied by clarinet, trombone, and rhythm — Wilder Hobson
— see rhythm band
4.
a. : the regular recurrence of similar features in a literary, musical, or artistic composition
the effect of a pitched or a flat roof or a dome, the rhythm of projections and recessions — Nikolaus Pevsner
— compare proportion , symmetry
b. : an ordered sequence of harmonious or related compositional elements
5.
a. : harmonious or orderly movement, fluctuation, or variation with recurrences of action or situation at fairly regular intervals
investigators, concentrating on recurrent processes, have been able to demonstrate the existence of many rhythms with a definite temporal sequence of phases repeated again and again — P.A.Sorokin
the discipline of the factory hooter … had to be accepted by a people used to the entirely different rhythms of country life — Roy Lewis & Angus Maude
b. : a segment of a rhythm
the rising rhythm of border incidents — Atlantic
6. : a regularly recurrent quantitative change in a variable biological process: as
a. : the pattern of recurrence of the cardiac cycle
an irregular rhythm marked by dropped systoles
b. : the recurring pattern of physical and functional changes associated with the mammalian and especially human sexual cycle — see rhythm method
7.
a. : a patterned succession of various combinations in long and short time divisions of impulse and release in dancing that is usually regularly recurrent in folk and simple art dances and often irregular and complex in modern dance when representative of erratic moods and their correlated movements
b. : easy muscular coordination (as in running, swimming, skating)
8. : the repetition in a literary work at varying intervals and in an altered form or under changed circumstances of phrase, incident, character type, or symbol
9. : the effect created by the elements in a play, motion picture, or novel that relate to the temporal development of the action (as the length and diversity of scenes, language, lighting, and the timing of the actors) ; specifically : a sense of emotional intensity or of logical development in the plot of a motion picture produced by the use of montage
a series of alternate long and short scenes securing a quicker rhythm — Herbert Read
even as the emotional rhythm catches hold, the mood is continually jolted by meaningless digressions — Time
Synonyms:
cadence , meter : rhythm is wider in its use than cadence or meter. It is applicable to sound in poetry and music and also to any recurrent sound, movement, arrangement, or condition in virtually any sphere. Sometimes the word connotes little more than regular alternation
the alternating rhythm of conquest and rebellion, repression and reprisal — Lewis Mumford
a mysterious rhythm of elation and depression — Cyril Connolly
Often it suggests subtlety and variation in recurrence
prose rhythm should not have a conspicuous movement of sound — Allen Tate
the shaking of the house was periodic but without rhythm — Christopher La Farge
Often it suggests a recurrence pattern too varied to be easily grasped
the wavering, lovely rhythms of the sea — Rose Macaulay
a rhythm, even though not reducible to law, is manifest in the history of supreme court adjudication — Felix Frankfurter
cadence is used mostly in relation to sound or to coordinated motion and is mainly applicable to shorter phrases or series. While rhythm stresses orderly recurrence with possible variety, cadence stresses variety in ordered sequence, often with falling or rising effects
the song of the ruby-crowned wren, or kinglet — the same liquid bubble and cadence which characterize the wren songs generally … beginning in a fine, round, needlelike note, and rising into a full sustained warble — John Burroughs
It may suggest the quite subtle or affective
leaves in the mind of the sensitive reader an intangible residuum of pleasure; a cadence, a quality of voice that is exclusively the writer's own — Willa Cather
meter applies almost entirely to more mechanical and more obvious poetic measures
iambic pentameter is the most common meter in English poetry
II. verb
obsolete : rhyme