ca·dence

(kād′ns)

n. pl. ca·denc·es

1. Balanced, rhythmic flow, as of poetry or oratory.

2. The measure or beat of movement, as in dancing or marching.

a. A falling inflection of the voice, as at the end of a sentence.

b. General inflection or modulation of the voice.

4. Music A progression of chords moving to a harmonic close, point of rest, or sense of resolution.

[Middle English, from Old French *cadence, from Old Italian cadenza, from Vulgar Latin *cadentia, a falling, from Latin cadēns, cadent-, present participle of cadere, to fall; see kad- in Indo-European roots.]

ca′denced adj.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

cadence

(ˈkeɪdəns) or

cadency

n, pl -dences or -dencies

1. the beat or measure of something rhythmic

2. (Phonetics & Phonology) a fall in the pitch of the voice, as at the end of a sentence

3. (Phonetics & Phonology) modulation of the voice; intonation

4. (Poetry) a rhythm or rhythmic construction in verse or prose; measure

5. (Music, other) the close of a musical phrase or section

[C14: from Old French, from Old Italian cadenza, literally: a falling, from Latin cadere to fall]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

ca•dence

(ˈkeɪd ns)

n., v. -denced, -denc•ing. n.

1. rhythmic flow of sounds or words.

2. the beat, rate, or measure of any rhythmic movement.

3. the flow or rhythm of events.

4. a slight falling in pitch of the voice in speaking.

5. a sequence of musical chords moving toward a harmonic point of rest or closing.

v.t.

6. to make rhythmical.

[1350–1400; Middle English < Middle French < Italian cadenza]

ca•den•tial (kəˈdɛn ʃəl) adj.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	cadence - (prosody) the accent in a metrical foot of verse metre, meter, measure, beat metrics, prosody - the study of poetic meter and the art of versification poetic rhythm, rhythmic pattern, prosody - (prosody) a system of versification catalexis - the absence of a syllable in the last foot of a line or verse scansion - analysis of verse into metrical patterns common meter, common measure - the usual (iambic) meter of a ballad metrical foot, metrical unit, foot - (prosody) a group of 2 or 3 syllables forming the basic unit of poetic rhythm
	2.	cadence - the close of a musical section musical passage, passage - a short section of a musical composition amen cadence, plagal cadence - a cadence (frequently ending church music) in which the chord of the subdominant precedes the chord of the tonic
	3.	cadence - a recurrent rhythmical series cadency rhythmicity - the rhythmic property imparted by the accents and relative durations of notes in a piece of music

cadence

noun

1. intonation, accent, inflection, modulation He recognised the Polish cadences in her voice.

2. rhythm, beat, measure (Prosody), metre, pulse, throb, tempo, swing, lilt There was a sudden shift in the cadence of the music.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

cadence

noun

The patterned, recurring alternation of contrasting elements, such as stressed and unstressed notes in music:

beat, cadency, measure, meter, rhythm, swing.

Translations

Kadenz Rhythmus Tonfall Gleichschritt

cadence

cadenza inflessione intonazione ritmo

kadencja

cadence

[ˈkeɪdəns] N (Mus) [of voice] → cadencia f; (= rhythm) → ritmo m, cadencia f
the cadences of prose → el ritmo de la prosa

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

cadence

[ˈkeɪd^əns] n

(= intonation) [voice] → intonation f

(MUSIC) → cadence f

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

cadence

n (Mus) → Kadenz f; (of voice) → Tonfall m, → Melodie f; (= rhythm) → Rhythmus m, → Melodie f; the cadences of his prose → der Duktus seiner Prosa

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

cadence

[ˈkeɪd/əns] n → cadenza

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

Their technic consisted in waving their tails and moving their heads in a regular succession of measured movements resulting in a cadence which evidently pleased the eye of the Mahar as the cadence of our own instrumental music pleases our ears.

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The navigation of his craft must have engrossed all the Roman's attention in the calm of a summer's day (he would choose his weather), when the single row of long sweeps (the galley would be a light one, not a trireme) could fall in easy cadence upon a sheet of water like plate-glass, reflecting faithfully the classic form of his vessel and the contour of the lonely shores close on his left hand.

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There was a melancholy cadence in Dorothea's voice as she spoke these last words.

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At length one of them called out in a clear, polite, smooth dialect, not unlike in sound to the Italian: and therefore I returned an answer in that language, hoping at least that the cadence might be more agreeable to his ears.

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With these religious services, probably derived from the white men, the tribes above-mentioned mingle some of their old Indian ceremonials, such as dancing to the cadence of a song or ballad, which is generally done in a large lodge provided for the purpose.

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The abbe, who was quite innocent of Latin, nodded his head, in cadence, at every roll which La Fontaine impressed upon his body, according to the undulations of the dactyls and spondees.

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In the silence of mingled joy and sorrow they passed along through the familiar jungle, and as the afternoon was waning there came faintly to the ears of the ape-man the murmuring cadence of distant voices.

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She sang, and her voice flowed in a rich cadence, swelling or dying away like a nightingale of the woods.

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The beating of the drum was in a slow, ponderous cadence, at first without time but presently settling into a heavy rhythm to which the apes kept time with measured tread and swaying bodies.

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The child went singing away, following up the current of the brook, and striving to mingle a more lightsome cadence with its melancholy voice.

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Perhaps they were; or perhaps there might have been shoals of them in the far horizon; but lulled into such an opium-like listlessness of vacant, unconscious reverie is this absent-minded youth by the blending cadence of waves with thoughts, that at last he loses his identity; takes the mystic ocean at his feet for the visible image of that deep, blue, bottomless soul, pervading mankind and nature; and every strange, half-seen, gliding, beautiful thing that eludes him; every dimly-discovered, uprising fin of some undiscernible form, seems to him the embodiment of those elusive thoughts that only people the soul by continually flitting through it.

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Yet, no one could have looked at him twice, without looking again: even though the opportunity of observation had not extended to the mournful cadence of his low grave voice, and to the abstraction that overclouded him fitfully, without any apparent reason.

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