cadence

Meanings

Noun

• The act or state of declining or sinking.
• Balanced, rhythmic flow.
• The measure or beat of movement.
• The general inflection or modulation of the voice, or of any sound.
• 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.
• A cadenza, or closing embellishment; a pause before the end of a strain, which the performer may fill with a flight of fancy.
• A fall in inflection of a speaker’s voice, such as at the end of a sentence.
• A dance move which ends a phrase.
• The rhythm and sequence of a series of actions.
• The number of steps per minute.
• The number of revolutions per minute of the cranks or pedals of a bicycle.
• A chant that is sung by military personnel while running or marching; a jody call.
• cadency
• Harmony and proportion of movement, as in a well-managed horse.
• The number of strides per second of a racehorse, measured when the same foot/hoof strikes the ground
• The frequency of regular product releases.

Verb

• To give a cadence to.
• To give structure to.

Related

Similar words

• clausula

Origin

• Borrowed from Middle French cadence, from Italian cadenza, from Latin *cadentia, form of cadēns, form of cadō, from Proto-Italic *kadō, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱad-. cadenza, and chance.