Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Cadence?

\Ca"dence\, n. [OE. cadence, cadens, LL. cadentia a falling, fr. L. cadere to fall; cf. F. cadence, It. cadenza. See {Chance}.] 1. The act or state of declining or sinking. [Obs.] Now was the sun in western cadence low. --Milton. 2. A fall of the voice in reading or speaking, especially at the end of a sentence. 3. A rhythmical modulation of the voice or of any sound; as, music of bells in cadence sweet. Blustering winds, which all night long Had roused the sea, now with hoarse cadence lull Seafaring men o'erwatched. --Milton. The accents . . . were in passion's tenderest cadence. --Sir W. Scott. 4. Rhythmical flow of language, in prose or verse. Golden cadence of poesy. --Shak. If in any composition much attention was paid to the flow of the rhythm, it was said (at least in the 14th and 15th centuries) to be ``prosed in faire cadence.'' --Dr. Guest. 5. (Her.) See {Cadency}. 6. (Man.) Harmony and proportion in motions, as of a well-managed horse. 7. (Mil.) A uniform time and place in marching. 8. (Mus.) (a) The close or fall of a strain; the point of rest, commonly reached by the immediate succession of the tonic to the dominant chord. (b) A cadenza, or closing embellishment; a pause before the end of a strain, which the performer may fill with a flight of fancy. {Imperfect cadence}. (Mus.) See under {Imperfect}.
\Ca"dence\, v. t. To regulate by musical measure. These parting numbers, cadenced by my grief. --Philips.