Cadence

From Middle French cadence, from Italian cadenza, from Latin cadentia.

Full definition of cadence

(countable and uncountable; plural cadences)

Shakespearegolden cadence of poesy
1991, 2 December, At the Saudi-Kuwaiti Border, Night has now passed in the Saudi desert and as we hear from Nightline correspondent Forrest Sawyer, the normal cadence of life at the front is about to change.

1993, Ken Schultz, Terror of the deep, Getting into a good jigging rhythm means making short quick jerks in a regular cadence that might average about one jerk every 1.5 to 2 seconds.

MiltonBlustering winds, which all night long
Had roused the sea, now with hoarse cadence lull
Seafaring men o'erwatched.
Sir Walter ScottThe accents ... were in passion's tenderest cadence.
1991, 30 December, David Holmstrom, Raimey: A Breath of Fresh Ayah, The cadence of Raimey's voice is pure Down-Easter Maine

(music) 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.
(music) A cadenza, or closing embellishment; a pause before the end of a strain, which the performer may fill with a flight of fancy.
(speech) A fall in inflection of a speakerâ€™s voice, such as at the end of a sentence.
(dance) A dance move which ends a phrase.The cadence in a galliard step refers to the final leap in a cinquepace sequence.
(fencing) The rhythm and sequence of a series of actions.
(running) The number of steps per minute.
(cycling) The number of revolutions per minute of the cranks or pedals of a bicycle.
(military) A chant that is sung by military personnel while running or marching; a jody call.
(heraldry) cadency
(horse-riding) Harmony and proportion of movement, as in a well-managed horse.

1897, Don Carlos Buell, Why the Confederacy Failed, there was besides, in an already dominating and growing element, a motive that was stronger and more enduring than enthusiasm â€”an implacable antagonism which acted side by side with the cause of the Union as a perpetual impelling force against the social conditions of the South, controlling the counsels of the government, and cadencing the march of its armies to the chorus:#*:: John Brown's body lies mouldering in the grave,#*:: But his soul is marching on!
1910, In this march to the ''City of the Dead,"'" scores upon scores of the best musical organizations of the nation were in line, whose funeral dirges cadenced the great wail of a bereft people.
1990, Lewis Lockwood, Example 10a gives a melody for one endecasyllabic line of verse; there are various ways of utilizing it, including Rore's choice of cadencing the first line on the third scale degree, for a two-line segment of an ottava stanza.

1966, Joseph Leon Blau, Modern varieties of Judaism, It was the Exile, however, which cadenced the rhythm of Jewish existence
2000, David C. Hammack, Making the Nonprofit Sector in the United States, They are neither mentioned specifically in the Constitution, nor in the Federalist Papers that cadenced the nationalist debates.
2004, Andrew Ayers, The architecture of Paris: an architectural guide, ... an idea taken up by Percier and Fontaine, who also supplied the Corinthian order and transverse arcades cadencing the gallery's length today----