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Rhythm definition

rĭthəm
rhythms
See word origin
Frequency:
Movement or variation characterized by the regular recurrence or alternation of different quantities or conditions.

The rhythm of the tides.

noun
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An earlier suite of supply chain management software from i2 Technologies that ran on Unix, NT and mainframes. Modules offered specific planning and scheduling reports and algorithms for more than a dozen industries.
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Rhythm is a recurring movement of sound or speech.

An example of rhythm is the rising and falling of someone's voice.

An example of rhythm is someone dancing in time with music.

noun
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The patterned, recurring alternations of contrasting elements of sound or speech.
noun
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The pattern of development produced in a literary or dramatic work by repetition of elements such as words, phrases, incidents, themes, images, and symbols.
noun
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Procedure or routine characterized by regularly recurring elements, activities, or factors.

The rhythm of civilization; the rhythm of the lengthy negotiations.

noun
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A specific kind of such patterning.

A waltz rhythm.

noun
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The similar but less formal sequence of sounds in prose.
noun
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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.
noun
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Once you get the rhythm of it, the job will become easy.

noun
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Flow, movement, procedure, etc. characterized by basically regular recurrence of elements or features, as beat, or accent, in alternation with opposite or different elements or features.

The rhythm of speech, dancing, the heartbeat, etc.

noun
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Such recurrence; pattern of flow or movement.
noun
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The form or pattern of this.

Waltz rhythm.

noun
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Instruments on which the rhythm can be played; specif.,
noun
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Basically regular recurrence of grouped stressed and unstressed, long and short, or high-pitched and low-pitched syllables in alternation; arrangement of successive syllables, as in metrical units (feet) or cadences, according to their relative stress, quantity, or pitch.
noun
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The form or pattern of this.

Iambic rhythm.

noun
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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.

noun
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A specifically defined pattern of such variation.

Most dances have a rhythm as distinctive as the Iambic verse in poetry.

noun
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The tempo or speed of a beat, song or repetitive event.

We walked with a quick, even rhythm.

noun
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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.

noun
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A regular quantitative change in a variable (notably natural) process.

The rhythm of the seasons dominates agriculture as well as wildlife.

noun
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Controlled 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.

noun
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Basically regular recurrence of grouped strong and weak beats, or heavily and lightly accented tones, in alternation; arrangement of successive tones, usually in measures, according to their relative accentuation and duration.
noun
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The patterning of musical sound, as by differences in the timing, duration, or stress of consecutive notes.
noun
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A group of instruments supplying the rhythm in a band.
noun
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A specific kind of metrical pattern or flow.

Iambic rhythm.

noun
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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.
noun
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A regular or harmonious pattern created by lines, forms, and colors in painting, sculpture, and other visual arts.
noun
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(biol.) A periodic occurrence in living organisms of specific physiological changes, as the menstrual cycle, or a seasonal or daily variation in some activity, as sleep or feeding, in response to geophysical factors.
noun
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An effect of ordered movement in a work of art, literature, drama, etc. attained through patterns in the timing, spacing, repetition, accenting, etc. of the elements.
noun
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Other Word Forms

Noun

Singular:
rhythm
Plural:
rhythms

Origin of rhythm

  • Latin rhythmus from Greek rhuthmos sreu- in Indo-European roots

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • First coined 1557, from Latin rhythmus, from Ancient Greek ῥυθμός (rhythmos, “any measured flow or movement, symmetry, rhythm"), from ῥέω (rhèō, “I flow, run, stream, gush").

    From Wiktionary

Rhythm Sentence Examples

  • He said little else, and her breathing soon fell into rhythm with his.

  • Without a word, she slipped into his arms and fell into the rhythm of his step.

  • At once, the rhythm and scent of the ocean soothed her.

  • The style and rhythm, indeed, were not exactly Virgilian; but the translation found many admirers, and was read with pleasure by Pope himself.

  • She moved in rhythm with the music, brushing the floor softly as she hummed along.

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Words near rhythm in the Dictionary