cadence

Meaning

Noun

1. (countable, uncountable) The act or state of declining or sinking.
2. (countable, uncountable) The measure or beat of movement.
3. (countable, uncountable) Balanced, rhythmic flow.
4. (countable, uncountable) The general inflection or modulation of the voice, or of any sound.
5. (countable, uncountable) A progression of at least two chords which conclude a piece of music, section or musical phrases within it. Sometimes referred to analogously as musical punctuation.
6. (countable, uncountable) A cadenza, or closing embellishment; a pause before the end of a strain, which the performer may fill with a flight of fancy.
7. (countable, uncountable) A fall in inflection of a speaker’s voice, such as at the end of a sentence.
8. (countable, uncountable) A dance move which ends a phrase.
9. (countable, uncountable) The rhythm and sequence of a series of actions.
10. (countable, uncountable) The number of steps per minute.
11. (countable, uncountable) The number of revolutions per minute of the cranks or pedals of a bicycle.
12. (countable, uncountable) A chant that is sung by military personnel while running or marching; a jody call.
13. (countable, uncountable) Cadency.
14. (countable, uncountable) Harmony and proportion of movement, as in a well-managed horse.
15. (countable, uncountable) The number of strides per second of a racehorse, measured when the same foot/hoof strikes the ground
16. (countable, uncountable) The frequency of regular product releases.

Verb

1. (transitive) To give a cadence to.
2. (transitive) To give structure to.

Synonyms

rhythm

beat

cadency

pace

intonation

measure

metre

meter

fall

stride rate

melisma

melody

note

collapse

prosody

punch line

rate

close

rhythmics

step

style

tempo

tone

tune

waterfall

cadenza

downfall

drop

falling out

lilt

Translations

cadence

Kadenz

cadencia

Rhythmus

cadenza

cadens

inflessione

ritmo

cadência

cadència

Tonfall

cadans

intonazione

mesure

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈkeɪ.dn̩s/

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French cadence, from Old Italian cadenza (“conclusion of a phrase of music”), from Latin *cadentia (literally “a falling”), form of cadēns, the present participle of cadō (“I fall, I cease”). The Latin verb is inherited, via Proto-Italic *kadō, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱad-e- (“to fall”, thematic present). Doublet of cadenza and chance.