Do you know the definition of cadence? This article will provide you with all of the information you need on the word cadence, including its definition, etymology, usage, example sentences, and more!
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October 6, 2021
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What does the word cadence mean?
According to Collins English Dictionary and the American Heritage Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, the word cadence is a noun that refers to the way someone’s voice gets higher and lower as they speak as well as a phrase that ends a section of music or musical phrases, or a close of a musical phrase or chants with a sense of resolution. Cadence can be measured by a metronome and can come at the end of a short section of a musical composition. Cadence might also refer to the absence of a syllable in the analysis of verse. The pitch of the voice has a rhythmic flow to it that comes to a point of rest at the end of a sentence. The general inflection, intonation or accent of a person’s voice is very individual. This modulation of the voice is perfectly natural and happens in different languages in different ways. The word cadence can also be used to refer to the pace of runners or swimmers, or to refer to the number of revolutions on the pedals of a bicycle for every minute of the cranks. A cadence is also a dance move which ends a phrase. The word cadence is two syllables – ca-dence, and the pronunciation of cadence is ˈkeɪdəns.
Many different languages also contain words that mean cadence. You may notice that some of these translations of cadence look and sound similar to one another. These are called cognates, which are words and phrases that look, sound, and eman something slimalir while they are words of different languages. These are often formed when two words have the same root or language of origin. This list of translations of the word cadence is provided by Word Sense.
- Catalan: ritme (masc.)
- Swahili: mahadhi
- Swedish: rytm
- Burmese: စည်းချက်
- Lao: ຈັງຫວະ
- French: rythme (masc.)
- Quechua: waskariqlla
- Turkmen: ritm
- Persian: ریتم (ritm)
- Afrikaans: ritme
- Vietnamese: nhịp điệu
- Gujarati: તાલ
- Irish: rithim (fem.)
- Telugu: లయ
- Romanian: ritm
- Marathi: ताल (masc.)
- Belarusian: рытм (masc.)
- Malayalam: താളം
- Slovak: rytmus (masc.)
- Italian: ritmo (masc.)
- Danish: rytme
- Greek: ρυθμός (masc.)
- Dutch: ritme (neut.)
- Hindi: ताल
- Finnish: rytmi, tahti
- Polish: rytm (masc.)
- Kannada: ಮರುಕಳಿಕೆ
- Uzbek: ritm
- Georgian: რიტმი
- Yiddish: ריטם
- Spanish: ritmo (masc.)
- Russian: ритм (masc.), такт (masc.)
- Thai: จังหวะ (jang wà)
- Latvian: ritms (masc.)
- Kyrgyz: ритм
- Lithuanian: ritmas (masc.)
- Bengali: তাল
- Malay: rentak, ritma
- Tashelhit: ajmak (masc.)
- Norwegian: rytme
- Khmer: ចង្វាក់ (jɑngvak)
- Scottish Gaelic: ruitheam (masc.)
- Indonesian: ritme
- Hawaiian: pana o ka mele, pā
- Estonian: rütm
- Urdu: تال (tāl)
- Hausa: taakee
- Korean: 리듬
- Armenian: ռիթմ
- German: Rhythmus (masc.)
- Albanian: ritëm
- Asturian: ritmu (masc.)
- Azeri: ritm
- Icelandic: taktur (masc.)
- Hijazi Arabic: إِيقَاع
- Turkish: ritim, ritm
- Macedonian: ритам (masc.)
- Galician: ritmo (masc.)
- Tamil: தாளம்
- Portuguese: ritmo (masc.)
- Czech: rytmus (masc.), takt (masc.)
- Japanese: リズム (rizumu)
- Ukrainian: ритм (masc.)
- Gilbertese: te katoang
- Roman: ritam (masc.)
- Faroese: rútma (fem.)
- Cyrillic: ритам (masc.)
- Slovene: ritem (masc.)
- Kazakh: ритм
- Arabic: إِيقَاع
- Bulgarian: ри́тъм (masc.)
- Mandarin: 節奏, 节奏 (jiézòu)
- Esperanto: ritmo
- Tagalog: indayog, aliw-iw
- Hungarian: ritmus
- Hebrew: קצב, קצב
What are synonyms and antonyms of cadence?
There are many different words that a person can use in place of the word cadence. These words with the same definition as the word cadence are called synonyms. Learning synonyms is a great way to expand your vocabulary, as well as to avoid repeating yourself in spoken and written English. This list of synonyms of cadence is from Power Thesaurus.
- falling strain
- pentameter
- flow of events
- pace
- manner of speaking
- enunciation
- accentuation
- timbre
- measures
- modulation
- tone
- rate
- regular beat
- inflexion
- drumming
- scansion
- intonations
- drawl
- couplet
- common meter
- trimeter
- paced
- vowel-chime
- cadenced
- beat
- metre
- tetrameter
- inflection
- tick
- modulation of the voice
- regular rhythm
- rhythmic recurrence of sound
- accent
- rhythms
- burr
- measure of rhythmical motion
- rhythmic construction
- beat of rhythmical motion
- emphasis
- slant rhyme
- make rhythmical
- modulated recurrence of sound
- accents
- oscillation
- inflections
- meters
- time
- articulation
- vibration
- beat of rhythmical activity
- pulsation
- iambic pentameter
- nursery rhyme
- poem
- hexameter
- cadenza
- measure
- pounding
- pulse
- meeter
- half-rhyme
- rhythm
- downward spiral
- brogue
- rune
- pulses
- meter
- measure of something rhythmic
- beat of something rhythmic
- rise and fall
- harmony
- alliteration
- music melody
- falling inflection
- intonation
- tempo
- rhythm of events
- poetry
- descent
- stress
- cadency
- concluding strain
- pronunciation
- lilt
- pitch
- close of musical phrase
- measure of rhythmical activity
- swing
- movement
- delivery
- tone of voice
- throb
- verse
- tune
- rhyme
- close of musical section
- speech pattern
- flow of sounds
- beats
- harmonic close
There are also numerous different words with the opposite meaning as cadence. These are called antonyms, which are another great way to expand your English language vocabulary. These antonyms for cadence are also provided by Power Thesaurus.
- discordance
- riot
- rattle
- sonance
- jangle
- ruckus
- discord
- atonality
- turmoil
- clamour
- blare
- clinker
- din
- disaccord
- stridency
- uproar
- disturbance
- hubbub
- racket
- noise
- rumpus
- raucousness
- stridor
- brawl
- hullabaloo
- pandemonium
- cacophony
- dissonance
- difference
- dins
- babel
- sour note
- row
- clash
- discordancy
- unmusicality
- turbulence
- unmelodiousness
- katzenjammer
- lack of harmony
- conflict
- roar
- harshness
- clangor
- caterwauling
- disharmony
- clamor
- sound
- commotion
- tumult
- blaring
What is the origin of the word cadence?
According to Etymonline, the word cadence has been used since late c14 Middle English and comes from the Old French cadence and Old Italian cadenza. This comes from the Vulgar Latin cadentia, which is the neuter plural of the Latin cadens/Latin cadēns and the present participle of the Latin cadere.
In summary, the word cadence means a rhythmic pattern in voice or prose said in an oratory way, a beat of movement, poetic rhythms, metrical patterns, a progression of chords with a pause, a plagal cadence, a metrical foot of verse, a chord of the tonic, a rhythmic cadence, the inflection of a speaker who uses an embellishment at the end of a strain, a musical punctuation, the end of a musical passage of church music or a short selection of a musical composition, the number of steps a runner takes also known as stride length that differs between shorter and taller runners, a basic unit of poetic rhythm, the last foot of a line, a falling inflection of the voice, a metrical unit and more. This measure of any rhythmic movement comes from the present participle of cadere and has Indo-European roots.
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