1. rhythm: the beat or measure of something such as a dance or a march that follows a set rhythm
2. falling tone: a drop in the pitch of the voice, e.g. at the end of a sentence
3. intonation: the rise and fall of the voice during speech
4. rhythm in language: the rhythmic flow of poetry or prose
5. music musical sequence: a short sequence of notes that marks the end of a piece or passage of music. In tonal music, a cadence brings about a harmonic resolution.
[14th century. Via Old French, "rhythm" < Italian cadenza "falling away" < Latin cadere "to fall"]
ca·denced adjective
Word History
The Latin word cadere "to fall," from which cadence is derived, is also the source of English accident, cadaver, cascade, case1, chance, cheat, coincide, decay, deciduous, incident, occasion, and Occident.
