Definition of Rhythm

1. Noun. The basic rhythmic unit in a piece of music. "The conductor set the beat"

Exact synonyms: Beat, Musical Rhythm
Specialized synonyms: Backbeat, Downbeat, Offbeat, Upbeat, Syncopation
Generic synonyms: Musical Time
Derivative terms: Beat, Beat, Beat, Beat, Beat

2. Noun. Recurring at regular intervals.
Exact synonyms: Regular Recurrence
Generic synonyms: Cyclicity, Periodicity
Specialized synonyms: Cardiac Rhythm, Heart Rhythm
Derivative terms: Rhythmic, Rhythmical

3. Noun. An interval during which a recurring sequence of events occurs. "The never-ending cycle of the seasons"
Exact synonyms: Cycle, Round
Generic synonyms: Interval, Time Interval
Terms within: Phase, Phase Angle
Derivative terms: Cycle, Cycle, Cycle, Cyclic, Rhythmic

4. Noun. The arrangement of spoken words alternating stressed and unstressed elements. "The rhythm of Frost's poetry"
Exact synonyms: Speech Rhythm
Generic synonyms: Guide, Template, Templet, Inflection, Prosody

5. Noun. Natural family planning in which ovulation is assumed to occur 14 days before the onset of a period (the fertile period would be assumed to extend from day 10 through day 18 of her cycle).

Definition of Rhythm

1. n. 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.

Definition of Rhythm

1. Noun. The variation of strong and weak elements (such as duration, accent) of sounds, notably in speech or music, over time; a beat or meter. ¹

2. Noun. A specifically defined pattern of such variation ¹

3. Noun. A flow, repetition or regularity. ¹

4. Noun. The tempo or speed of a beat, song or repetetive event. ¹

5. Noun. The musical instruments which provide rhythm (mainly; not or less melody) in a musical ensemble ¹

6. Noun. A regular quantitative change in a variable (notably natural) process ¹

7. Noun. Controlled repetition of a phrase, incident or other element as a stylistic figure in literature and other narrative arts; the effect it creates ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Rhythm

1. movement or procedure with uniform recurrence of strong and weak elements [n -S]

Medical Definition of Rhythm

1. The regularity of the heartbeat. Can be assessed by taking the pulse. (23 Aug 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Rhythm

rhynchota
rhyne
rhynes
rhyniophyte
rhyniophytes
rhyolite
rhyolites
rhyolitic
rhyparia
rhyparography
rhypophagy
rhysimeter
rhysimeters
rhyta
rhythm (current term)
rhythm and blues
rhythm and blues musician
rhythm guitar
rhythm guitars
rhythm method of birth control
rhythm methods
rhythm section
rhythm stick
rhythm sticks
rhythmal
rhythmed
rhythmer
rhythmers

Literary usage of Rhythm

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians by George Grove (1908)
"With regard to the regular sequence of bars with reference to close and cadence—which is the true sense of rhythm—much depends upon the character of the ..."

2. The Psychology of Musical Talent by Carl Emil Seashore (1919)
"one naturally makes in free movements, whereas regulated rhythm requires, either consciously ... While the perception of rhythm involves the whole organism, ..."

3. The Psychology of Musical Talent by Carl Emil Seashore (1919)
"one naturally makes in free movements, whereas regulated rhythm requires, either consciously ... While the perception of rhythm involves the whole organism, ..."

4. Modern Music and Musicians by Louis Charles Elson (1918)
"In music the rhythm is marked, first by the position of the bar-lines, ... The rhythm, or regular accentuation, which results from the position of the ..."

5. The American Journal of Psychology by Granville Stanley Hall, Edward Bradford Titchener (1913)
"In the experiment, the three rhythm, which is numerically simple and which is ... The average error made by twelve persons on this rhythm is 13 per cent. ..."

6. An Introduction to Poetry: For Students of English Literature by Raymond Macdonald Alden (1909)
"Metre or verse, then, is formed of rhythmical groups of syllables, divided (as in all rhythm) by stresses into equal time-intervals, and also divided into ..."

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