What does rhythm mean?

Definitions for rhythm
ˈrɪð əmrhythm

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word rhythm.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. rhythm, beat, musical rhythmnoun

    the basic rhythmic unit in a piece of music

    "the piece has a fast rhythm"; "the conductor set the beat"

  2. rhythm, regular recurrencenoun

    recurring at regular intervals

  3. cycle, rhythm, roundnoun

    an interval during which a recurring sequence of events occurs

    "the never-ending cycle of the seasons"

  4. rhythm, speech rhythmnoun

    the arrangement of spoken words alternating stressed and unstressed elements

    "the rhythm of Frost's poetry"

  5. rhythm method of birth control, rhythm method, rhythm, calendar method of birth control, calendar methodnoun

    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)

Wiktionary

  1. rhythmnoun

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

    Dance to the rhythm of the music.

  2. rhythmnoun

    A specifically defined pattern of such variation

    Most dances have a rhythm as distinctive as the Iambic verse in poetry

  3. rhythmnoun

    A flow, repetition or regularity.

    Once you get the rhythm of it, the job will become easy.

  4. rhythmnoun

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

    We walked with a quick, even rhythm.

  5. rhythmnoun

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

    The Baroque term basso continuo is virtually equivalent to rhythm

  6. rhythmnoun

    A regular quantitative change in a variable (notably natural) process

  7. rhythmnoun

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

    The running gag is a popular rhythm in motion pictures and theater comedy

  8. Etymology: First coined 1557, from rhythmus, from ῥυθμός, from ῥέω.

Wikipedia

  1. Rhythm

    Rhythm (from Greek ῥυθμός, rhythmos, "any regular recurring motion, symmetry") generally means a "movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions". This general meaning of regular recurrence or pattern in time can apply to a wide variety of cyclical natural phenomena having a periodicity or frequency of anything from microseconds to several seconds (as with the riff in a rock music song); to several minutes or hours, or, at the most extreme, even over many years. Rhythm is related to and distinguished from pulse, meter, and beats:

ChatGPT

  1. rhythm

    Rhythm generally refers to the pattern or flow of movement or sound characterized by regular or recurring occurrences. It involves a sequence of strong and weak beats, accents, or pulses that create a sense of harmony, cohesion, and predictability in music, poetry, dance, or other artistic expressions. Rhythm often serves as a foundational element that sets the pace, tempo, and overall structure of a piece, enhancing the overall aesthetic experience by engaging the audience's sense of timing and creating a sense of momentum or groove.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Rhythmnoun

    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

  2. Rhythmnoun

    movement in musical time, with periodical recurrence of accent; the measured beat or pulse which marks the character and expression of the music; symmetry of movement and accent

  3. Rhythmnoun

    a division of lines into short portions by a regular succession of arses and theses, or percussions and remissions of voice on words or syllables

  4. Rhythmnoun

    the harmonious flow of vocal sounds

  5. Etymology: [F. rhythme, rythme, L. rhythmus, fr. Gr. measured motion, measure, proportion, fr. "rei^n to flow. See Stream.]

Wikidata

  1. Rhythm

    Rhythm generally means a "movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions." This general meaning of regular recurrence or pattern in time can apply to a wide variety of cyclical natural phenomena having a periodicity or frequency of anything from microseconds to millions of years. In the performance arts rhythm is the timing of events on a human scale; of musical sounds and silences, of the steps of a dance, or the meter of spoken language and poetry. Rhythm may also refer to visual presentation, as "timed movement through space." and a common language of pattern unites rhythm with geometry. In recent years, rhythm and meter have become an important area of research among music scholars. Recent work in these areas includes books by Maury Yeston, Fred Lerdahl and Ray Jackendoff, Jonathan Kramer, Christopher Hasty, Godfried Toussaint, William Rothstein, and Joel Lester.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Rhythm

    rithm, or rithm, n. flowing motion: metre: regular recurrence of accents: harmony of proportion: a measure, or foot: (mus.) the regular succession of heavy and light accents: (phys.) the succession of alternate and opposite states.—adjs. Rhyth′mic, -al, having or pertaining to rhythm or metre.—adv. Rhyth′mically.—n. Rhyth′mics, the science of rhythm.—v.t. and v.i. Rhyth′mise, to subject to rhythm: to observe rhythm.—n. Rhyth′mist, one who composes in rhythm.—adj. Rhythm′less, destitute of rhythm.—ns. Rhythmom′eter, an instrument for marking rhythms for music, a metronome; Rhythmopœ′ia, the art of composing rhythmically. [L.,—Gr. rhythmosrhein, to flow.]

Editors Contribution

  1. rhythm

    A regular movement, feeling or sound.

    The rhythm of the music makes us want to dance.


    Submitted by MaryC on February 17, 2020  

Suggested Resources

  1. rhythm

    Song lyrics by rhythm -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by rhythm on the Lyrics.com website.

British National Corpus

  1. Nouns Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'rhythm' in Nouns Frequency: #1785

How to pronounce rhythm?

How to say rhythm in sign language?

Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of rhythm in Chaldean Numerology is: 3

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of rhythm in Pythagorean Numerology is: 2

Examples of rhythm in a Sentence

  1. Josh Jackson:

    We just couldn’t find a rhythm. Their guys were making shots, we just didn’t have the energy and intensity that we normally have. I’m confident that we’ll find it.

  2. The Lakers ':

    The one thing that bothers me more than anything is we never really got an opportunity to see our full team at full strength, either because of injury or COVID or something going on with our ballclub this year, we could never fully get into a rhythm. And never really kind of see the full potential of what we could be capable of.

  3. Javier Pastore:

    Ligue 1 matches are often settled in the first half and you don’t continue working at the same rhythm for the 90 minutes, you notice that in the Champions League where you can’t sleep for a second. Sometimes in France, you can go for one month against teams which demand little effort.

  4. Oscar Auliq-Ice:

    The careful choice of words, rhythm, rhyme, and meter creates a sense of beauty and musicality that can be deeply moving and enjoyable to readers and listeners.

  5. Maria Sharapova:

    Yes, you're rusty and you're trying to get the rhythm again, it's my first match in a while, but this is what I've done for so long, and when you're in the moment, you try to block everything out, and you compete. And I'm a competitor by nature, even when things are not working. That's what I do.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

rhythm#1#8028#10000

Translations for rhythm

From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary

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"rhythm." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/rhythm>.

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