Cadence

//ˈkeɪ.dn̩s// name, noun, verb

Definitions

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A female given name from English.
Noun
  1. 1
    The act or state of declining or sinking. countable, uncountable

    "Now was the sun in western cadence low."

  2. 2
    a recurrent rhythmical series wordnet
  3. 3
    The measure or beat of movement. countable, uncountable

    "Getting into a good jigging rhythm means making short quick jerks in a regular cadence that might average about one jerk every 1.5 to 2 seconds."

  4. 4
    the close of a musical section wordnet
  5. 5
    Balanced, rhythmic flow. countable, uncountable

    "You find not the apostrophas, and so miss the accent: let me supervise the canzonet. Here are only numbers ratified; but, for the elegancy, facility, and golden cadence of poesy, caret."

Show 14 more definitions
  1. 6
    (prosody) the accent in a metrical foot of verse wordnet
  2. 7
    The general inflection or modulation of the voice, or of any sound. countable, uncountable

    "Blustering winds, which all night long / Had roused the sea, now with hoarse cadence lull / Seafaring men o'erwatched."

  3. 8
    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. countable, uncountable
  4. 9
    A cadenza, or closing embellishment; a pause before the end of a strain, which the performer may fill with a flight of fancy. countable, uncountable
  5. 10
    A fall in inflection of a speaker’s voice, such as at the end of a sentence. countable, uncountable
  6. 11
    A dance move which ends a phrase. countable, uncountable

    "The cadence in a galliard step refers to the final leap in a cinquepace sequence."

  7. 12
    The rhythm and sequence of a series of actions. countable, uncountable
  8. 13
    The number of steps per minute. countable, uncountable
  9. 14
    The number of revolutions per minute of the cranks or pedals of a bicycle. countable, uncountable
  10. 15
    A chant that is sung by military personnel while running or marching; a jody call. countable, uncountable

    "call cadence"

  11. 16
    Cadency. countable, uncountable
  12. 17
    Harmony and proportion of movement, as in a well-managed horse. countable, uncountable
  13. 18
    The number of strides per second of a racehorse, measured when the same foot/hoof strikes the ground countable, uncountable
  14. 19
    The frequency of regular product releases. countable, uncountable

    "In this third case, releasing more frequently, the PSI cadence becomes a planning cadence, rather than a release cadence."

Verb
  1. 1
    To give a cadence to. transitive

    "there was besides, in an already dominating and growing element, a motive that was stronger and more enduring than enthusiasm —an implacable antagonism which acted side by side with the cause of the Union as a perpetual impelling force against the social conditions of the South, controlling the counsels of the government, and cadencing the march of its armies to the chorus: John Brown's body lies mouldering in the grave, But his soul is marching on!"

  2. 2
    To give structure to. transitive

    "It was the Exile, however, which cadenced the rhythm of Jewish existence"

Etymology

Etymology 1

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.

Etymology 2

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.

Etymology 3

From the word cadence.

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