Rhythm

Definitions: Rhythm

Rhythm

Noun

1. The basic rhythmic unit in a piece of music; "the piece has a fast rhythm"; "the conductor set the beat".

2. Recurring at regular intervals.

3. An interval during which a recurring sequence of events occurs; "the neverending cycle of the seasons".

4. The arrangement of spoken words alternating stressed and unstressed elements; "the rhythm of Frost's poetry".

5. 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).

Date "rhythm" was first used: sometime around 1557. (references)

Synonyms: Rhythm

Synonyms: beat (n), calendar method (n), calendar method of birth control (n), cycle (n), musical rhythm (n), regular recurrence (n), rhythm method (n), rhythm method of birth control (n), round (n), speech rhythm (n). (additional references)

Rhythm is the measure of movement in time by regular recurring accents. When governed by rule, it is called metre. It is a major aspect of music, dance, and most poetry. The study of rhythm, stress, and pitch in speech is called prosody; it is a topic in linguistics.

In music, rhythms are usually arranged with respect to the time signature. The speed of a rhythm is called tempo. Beats which are emphasized by the time signature are called on beats; others are called off beats. In popular music, a strong off beat, called the beat or backbeat, usually repeats in the background, behind the melody (1234).

Some genres of music make different use of rhythm than others. Most western music is based on divisive rhythm, while non-western music uses more additive rhythm. African music makes heavy use of polyrhythms, and Indian music uses complex cycles such as 7 and 13, while Balinese music often uses complex interlocking rhythms. A lot of western classical music is rhythmically fairly simple; it stays in a simple meter such as 4/4 or 3/4 and makes little use of syncopation. In the 20th century, composers like Igor Stravinsky, Philip Glass, and Steve Reich wrote more rhythmically complex music using techniques such as phasing and additive rhythm. At the same time, modernists such as Olivier Messiaen and his pupils used increased complexity to disrupt the sense of a regular beat, leading eventually to the widespread use of irrational rhythms in New Complexity. LaMonte Young also wrote music in which the sense of a regular beat is absent because the music consists only of long sustained tones.

Instrumentalists who deal mainly with rhythm are called drummers or percussionists.

"Rhythm," wrote Tom Robbins in 'Another Roadside Attraction', "is everything pertaining to the duration of energy."

See also: riddim, musical notation, metre (music)

Context	Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus).
Poetry	Verse, rhyme, assonance, crambo, meter, measure, foot, numbers, strain, rhythm; accentuation; (voice); dactyl, spondee, trochee, anapest; hexameter, pentameter; Alexandrine; anacrusis, antispast, blank verse, ictus.
Regularity of recurrence Periodicity	Noun: periodicity, intermittence; beat; oscillation; pulse, pulsation; rhythm; alternation, alternateness, alternativeness, alternity.
Repetition	Noun: repetition, iteration, reiteration, harping, recurrence, succession, run; battology, tautology; monotony, tautophony; rhythm; diffuseness, pleonasm, redundancy.
Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus.

Domain	Usage
Screenplays	The rhythm in which he lives his life! (The Emperor's New Groove; writing credit: Chris Williams; Mark Dindal) He'd had given us rhythm too. (All in the Family; writing credit: Johnny Speight; Norman Lear) It'll screw up my rhythm. (Iron Eagle; writing credit: Kevin Elders; Sidney J. Furie) No thanks, I'm rhythm guitar and mouth organ. (Help!; writing credit: Marc Behm; Charles Wood) I could crack my knuckles with more rhythm! (The Adventures of Ford Fairlane; writing credit: Rex Weiner; James Cappe)
Lyrics	All I need is the rhythm divine (Rhythm Divine; performing artist: Enrique Iglesias) We are a part of the rhythm nation (Rhythm Nation; performing artist: Janet Jackson) Got no feel, I got no rhythm (Somebody To Love; performing artist: QUEEN; writing credit: Freddie Mercury) Oh rhythm of my heart is beating like a drum (RHYTHM OF MY HEART; performing artist: Rod Stewart) And it's looking for a rhythm like you. (Making Love Out Of Nothing At All; performing artist: Air Supply)
Movie/TV Titles	Rhythm (2000) Tala and Rhythm (1971) Juke Box Rhythm (1959) Rhythm (1957) Contrast in Rhythm (1955)
Song Titles	Rhythm Is Gonna Get You (performing artist: Gloria Estefan & Miami Sound Machine) Rhythm Nation (performing artist: Janet Jackson) Rhythm Of My Heart (performing artist: Rod Stewart) Rhythm Is A Dancer (performing artist: Snap) Rhythm Of The Rain (performing artist: The Cascades)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Domain	Title
References	Rhythm Watch Co., Ltd.: International Competitive Benchmarks and Financial Gap Analysis (reference) (more reference examples)

Books	101 Music Games for Children: Fun and Learning With Rhythm and Song (Smartfun Books) (reference) Progressive Rhythm Guitar for Beginner to Advanced Students (reference) The Souls of Your Feet - A Tap Dance Guidebook for Rhythm Explorers (reference) When the Drummers Were Women: A Spiritual History of Rhythm (reference) (more book examples)

Periodicals	Rhythm (reference) Rhythm & News (reference) Rhythm & Roots Review (reference) (more periodical examples)

Theater & Movies	Roots of Rhythm (reference) Blue's Clues - Rhythm and Blue (reference) (more DVD examples; more video examples)

Music	Rhythm Chowder (reference) Rhythm Culture 1 (reference) Two Classic Albums from The Amazing Rhythm Aces: Stacked Deck/Too Stuffed to Jump (reference) Errand Girl for Rhythm (reference) Rock 'N Rhythm, Vol. 2: Eruption (reference) (more classical music examples; more popular music examples)

High Tech	Jungle Book: Rhythm and Groove with Bonus Pack (reference) Disney's Jungle Book Rhythm N Groove- cancelled (reference) Rebirth One Rhythm Machines (reference) (more camera examples; more video game examples; more computer examples; more electronic examples; more software examples)

Consumer Goods	Rhythm & Blues Bouncer (reference) (more baby examples; more wireless phone examples; more garden examples; more kitchen examples; more tool examples)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Thumbnail	Description & Credit
	Heartbeat the rhythm of health : protect your heart!.Credit: National Library of Medicine.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Play	Caption	Play	Caption
	Quick shuffle rhythm with very stiff melodic material.		A muted-muted trumpet melody with a funky rhythm section.
	Ominous melody with repeating rhythm creating an unsettled feeling.		Fast rhythm with sustained string pads and quick melody.
	Simple backbeat rhythm for guitar and synthesized flute melodies.		A montuno style rhythm section.
	High keyboard glissando over a groove backbeat synthesized rhythm section.		A very pop style excerpt with a Jamaican-influenced rhythm.
	6/8 rhythm emphasized in percussion with wailing cries in background.		An early avant-garde jazz style saxophone with a modern jazz style rhythm section.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Author	Quotation
Plato	Beauty of style and harmony and grace and good rhythm depends on simplicity.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Title	Author	Quote
Les Miserables	Hugo, Victor	Style is the force of the ideal, rhythm is its movement.
Grapes of Wrath	Steinbeck, John	He worked and slept in a curious rhythm that nevertheless sufficed him.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Subject	Topic	Quote
Health		It also can regulate heart rhythm. (references)
		The sinus node develops an abnormal rate or rhythm. (references)
		Insomnia may also be related to circadian rhythm disorders. (references)
Business		From an initial market penetration of one percent in 1991, Portugal went far beyond market expectations with a growth rhythm of over 60 percent in the past seven years. (references)
Economic History	Panama	Lively salsa--a mixture of Latin American popular music, rhythm and blues, jazz, and rock--is a Panamanian specialty, and Ruben Blades its best-known performer. (references)
	Cambodia	Prince Sihanouk formed his own organization, FUNCINPEC, and its military arm, the Armee Nationale Sihanoukienne (ANS) in 1981. Warfare followed a wet season/dry season rhythm after 1980.The heavily-armed Vietnamese forces conducted offensive operations during the dry seasons, and the resistance forces held the initiative during the rainy seasons. (references)
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

Speaker	Phrase(s)
Paul McCartney	I like it. I don't really listen to a lot of it. I like some of the Eminem stuff because it's kind of clever. I like the rhythm. I like the attitude. And I can imagine if I was a young kid now, I'd like that.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

"Rhythm" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 99.39% of the time. "Rhythm" is used about 1,482 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted)

Parts of Speech	Percent	Usage per 100 Million Words	Rank in English
Noun (singular)	99.39%	1,473	5,506
Noun (proper)	0.47%	7	133,076
Noun (common)	0.13%	2	245,945
Total	100.00%	1,482	N/A

Country	Name
Japan	Rhythm Watch Co., Ltd.
	(more examples...)

Expressions using "rhythm": Accelerated Idioventricular Rhythm ♦ Alpha Rhythm ♦ atrioventricular nodal rhythm ♦ AV junctional escape rhythm ♦ AV junctional rhythm ♦ Beta Rhythm ♦ cantering rhythm ♦ cardiac rhythm ♦ Circadian Rhythm ♦ Delta Rhythm ♦ gallop rhythm ♦ give rhythm ♦ heart rhythm ♦ musical rhythm ♦ nodal rhythm ♦ poetic rhythm ♦ proper rhythm ♦ put rhythm in ♦ rhythm and blues ♦ rhythm and blues musician ♦ rhythm method ♦ rhythm method of birth control ♦ rhythm method of contraception ♦ rhythm section ♦ sense of rhythm ♦ sinoatrial rhythm ♦ sinus rhythm ♦ speech rhythm ♦ sprung rhythm ♦ Theta Rhythm ♦ working rhythm. Additional references.
Hyphenated Usage
	Beginning with "rhythm": rhythm-and-blues, rhythm-changes, rhythm-guitar, rhythm-ites.
	Ending with "rhythm": Cash-rhythm, cross-rhythm, speech-rhythm.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com.

Language		Translations for "rhythm"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses.
Albanian		ritëm (cadence, cadency, eurhythmics, number, pace, pitch, rate, swing, tempo, velocity), temp (movement, tempo), madhësi vargu. (various references)

Arabic		‏وقع (be located, befall, come, come off, drop, dwell, fall, ground smb., happen, land, locate, place, position, run, set one's hand to, sign, sign up, site, strike, subscribe, supervene, take place, tumble, underwrite), ‏وزن شعري, ‏تناغم (chord, concert, concord, consistency, harmony, mesh, strain, symphony, tone, tune, tuning), ‏خضع للوزن, ‏خضع للإيقاع, ‏التواتر (frequency), ‏الاتزان, ‏إيقاع (cadence, cadency, harmony, lilt, percussion, stroke). (various references)

Bulgarian		ритъм (cadence, lilt, measure, movement, pulse). (various references)

Chinese		节奏 (Cadence), 旋律 (melody). (various references)

Czech		rytmus (cadency, lilt, swing), rozmìr (dimension, extent). (various references)

Danish		rytme, interval (interval). (various references)

Dutch		ritme (musical time, tact). (various references)

Esperanto		ritmo. (various references)

Faeroese		stevlag, lag (atmosphere, ethos, layer, method, mood), gongulag, áralag. (various references)

Farsi		میزان (Adjustment, Balance, Criterion, Measure, Meter, Remedy, Scale, Unit, Yardstick), نواخت , وزن (Avoirdupois, Burden, Cadence, Charge, Scale), سجع (Rime), اهنگ موزون (Lilt). (various references)

Finnish		rytmi. (various references)

French		rythme, cadence. (various references)

German		Rhythmus (cadence). (various references)

Greek		ρυθμόσ (beat, cadence, style, tempo), ρυθμός (pace, style, tempo). (various references)

Hebrew		מקצב (allocation, beat, meter), ריתמוס. (various references)

Hungarian		ritmus (beat, cadence, lilt, swing). (various references)

Indonesian		ritme, mengalun (be in steady, pitch). (various references)

Italian		ritmo (beat, cadence, cadency, lilt, meter, metre, pace, rate, swing, tempo). (various references)

Japanese Kanji		拍子 (beat, chance, tempo, time). (various references)

Japanese Katakana		おんりつ (metre, musical temperament), おんちょう (favour, grace, harmony, intonation, melody, tone, tune), リズム , ルズム , ひょうし (beat, binding, chance, front cover, tempo, time), せっそう (chastity, constancy, fidelity, honor, integrity), いんりつ (metre), りつどう, はくし (a small token of appreciation, beat, blank paper, chance, doctorate, PhD, tempo, time, weak-willed, white paper), ちょうし (condition, decanter, eldest child or son, impetus, key, knack, listening and watching, manner, memorial address, message of condolence, mood, pitch, spur of the moment, state of health, strain, style, time, tone, trend, tune, vein, way). (various references)

Korean		가락. (various references)

Manx		ryddim, bwoalley (assault, bang, bash, batter, beat, beat up, belabour, buffet, chime, clap, club, flap, hammer, hit, knock, mint, percussion, play, pound, pulsate, punch, ring, rise of penis, scramble, shock, slam, slap, strike, thrash, thresh, throb, toll, wallop). (various references)

Norwegian		rytme. (various references)

Papiamen		ritmo. (various references)

Pig Latin		ythmrhay

Portuguese		ritmo (beat, pace, rate, time), cadência (cadence, cadency, cadenza, number, pulse). (various references)

Romanian		ritm (cadence, cadency, lilt, number, pace, pulse, rate, run, speed, time), tempo (movement, tempo, time), mãsurã (action, amount, arrangement, bar, beat, degree, dimension, extent, length, measure, measurement, out size, proceeding, rate, reservation, size, sobriety, step, steps, time). (various references)

Russian		ритм (cadence, cadency, lilt, metre, pulse, rythm, swing, tempo). (various references)

Sepedi		moaito. (various references)

Serbo-Croatian		ritam (cadence, cadency, swing). (various references)

Spanish		ritmo (beat, cadence, cadency, rate, tempo, timing), cadencia (cadence, cadency, cadenza, inning, pulse, rate, term of office, timing). (various references)

Swazi		sí-gci. (various references)

Swedish		rytm (cadence, cadency, lilt, rhytm, swing). (various references)

Tagalog		kumpás. (various references)

Thai		ลีลา, ความสอดคล้อง, จังหวะสัมผัสในกวี, จังหวะดนตรี, จังหวะ (cadence). (various references)

Turkish		ritm (beat, cadence, swing), ritim (beat, cadence, swing), vezin (measure, meter, metre, prosody), uyum (accommodation, accord, accordance, balance, chime, coherence, coherency, concert, concinnity, concord, concordance, conformity, congruence, congruity, consecution, consistence, consistency, consonance, harmony, keeping, proportion, rapport, scheme, symmetry, symphony, tune, unison), nabız atışı (pulsation, pulse, throb), ahenk (accord, accordance, agreement, cadence, chime, coherence, coherency, concert, concinnity, concordance, concurrence, congruence, congruity, consonance, echo, euphony, harmony, symmetry, symphony, tune, unison). (various references)

Ukranian		ритмічність (eurhythmy, numerosity), ритм (beat, cadence, lilt, pulse, rhyme, tempo), гармонія (accord, accordance, cadence, chord, concord, consonance, harmonic, harmonica, harmony, unison). (various references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references.

Language	Period	Translations
Greek	700 BCE-300 CE	rhythmos. (various references)
Latin	500 BCE-Modern	modiae, modis, modo, modos, modum, modus, numeri, numero, numeros, numerum, numerus, rhythmus. (various references)
Middle English	1100-1500	ryme. (various references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Derivations
	Words beginning with "rhythm": rhythmic, rhythmical, rhythmically, rhythmicities, rhythmicity, rhythmics, rhythmist, rhythmists, rhythmization, rhythmizations, rhythmize, rhythmized, rhythmizes, rhythmizing, rhythms. (additional references)
	Words ending with "rhythm": biorhythm, polyrhythm. (additional references)
	Words containing "rhythm": antiarrhythmic, antiarrhythmics, arrhythmia, arrhythmias, arrhythmic, biorhythmic, biorhythms, dysrhythmia, dysrhythmias, dysrhythmic, eurhythmic, eurhythmics, eurhythmies, eurhythmy, polyrhythmic, polyrhythmically, polyrhythms, tachyarrhythmia, tachyarrhythmias, unrhythmic. (additional references)
Misspellings
	"Rhythm" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: arithm, hytime, rhthym, rhuthm, rhyth, rhythem, rhythme, rhythmm, rhythmn, rhythum, rhythym, rhytm, rhytme, rhytym, rithim, rithm, ryhm, ryhthm, Rythim, rythm, rythme, rythmn, rythum, Rythym. (additional references)
Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references).

# of Phoneme Matches	Pronunciation	Word(s) rhyming with "rhythm" (pronounced ri"thum)
3	-th u m	algorithm, fathom, logarithm.
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits.

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams
	Words within the letters "h-h-m-r-t-y"
	-2 letters: myth.
	-3 letters: thy, try.
	-4 letters: hm, my.
	Words containing the letters "h-h-m-r-t-y"
	+1 letter: rhythms.
	+2 letters: rhythmic.
	+3 letters: biorhythm, eurhythmy, rhythmics, rhythmist, rhythmize.
	+4 letters: arrhythmia, arrhythmic, biorhythms, eurhythmic, polyrhythm, rhythmical, rhythmists, rhythmized, rhythmizes, unrhythmic.
	+5 letters: arrhythmias, biorhythmic, dysrhythmia, dysrhythmic, eurhythmics, eurhythmies, hemerythrin, hemihydrate, homeothermy, hypothermal, hypothermia, hypothermic, mythography, phytochrome, polyrhythms, rhythmicity, rhythmizing.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro.

Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)

52 68 79 74 68 6D

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)

American Sign Language (origins from 1620-1817 in Italy and, especially, France) (references)

⁼

Semaphore (1791, in France) (references)

Braille (1829, in France) (references)

Morse Code (1836) (references)

.-. .... -.--. - .... --

Dancing Men (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1903) (references)

Bibliographic Items: "rhythm"

Top

Amazon.com BOOKS: Search for: "rhythm"

Top

Expression	Frequency per Day	Expression	Frequency per Day
boom rhythm	284	history of rhythm and blues	21
rhythm	200	house of rhythm	21
rhythm blues	154	sinus rhythm	21
circadian rhythm	97	rhythm nation	20
rhythm clock	92	blues blues blues n nwez rhythm soul soul thangs	20
atlanta rhythm section	86	rhythm of the rain	20
98.5 island rhythm	63	boom madison rhythm wisconsin	19
the amazing rhythm ace	57	hammerhead rhythm station	19
rhythm of the heart	52	listen to the rhythm of the falling rain	18
boom madison rhythm	50	brew rhythm	18
rhythm of the night	47	ekg rhythm	18
rhythm hue	33	lyrics night rhythm	17
rhythm guitar	30	bentley rhythm ace	17
cardiac rhythm	29	nursery rhythm	17
boom madison rhythm wi	28	rhythm is a dancer	17
rhythm room	28	island rhythm	17
rhythm and blues music	25	bio rhythm	16
rhythm small world clock	23	root of rhythm	15
dance to the rhythm	23	rhythm machine	15
love rhythm soul	21	rhythm of life	14
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Rhythm

Definitions: Rhythm

Rhythm

Noun

Synonyms: Rhythm

Specialty Definition: Rhythm

Synonyms within Context: Rhythm

Poetry

Regularity of recurrence Periodicity

Repetition

Crosswords: Rhythm

Modern Usage: Rhythm

Screenplays

Lyrics

Movie/TV Titles

Song Titles

Commercial Usage: Rhythm

References

Books

Periodicals

Theater & Movies

Music

High Tech

Consumer Goods

Image Slideshow: Rhythm

Illustrations:Rhythm

Computer Images:Rhythm

Photo Album: Rhythm

Sounds Captioned with "Rhythm".

Familiar Quotations: Rhythm

Plato

Use in Literature: Rhythm

Les Miserables

Hugo, Victor

Grapes of Wrath

Steinbeck, John

Non-Fiction Usage: Rhythm

Spoken Usage: Rhythm

Paul McCartney

Usage Frequency: Rhythm

Usage in Company Names: Rhythm

Rhythm Watch Co., Ltd.

Expressions: Rhythm

Frequency of Internet Keywords: Rhythm

Modern Translations: Rhythm

Albanian

Arabic

Bulgarian

Chinese

Czech

Danish

Dutch

Esperanto

Faeroese

Farsi

Finnish

French

German

Greek

Hebrew

Hungarian

Indonesian

Italian

Japanese Kanji

Japanese Katakana

Korean

Manx

Norwegian

Papiamen

Pig Latin

Portuguese

Romanian

Russian

Sepedi

Serbo-Croatian

Spanish

Swazi

Swedish

Tagalog

Thai

Illustrations:
Rhythm

Computer Images:
Rhythm