Cadence Meaning
/ˈkeɪ̯dəns/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounThe act or state of declining or sinking.
nounThe measure or beat of movement.
Sentence Examples
Venezuelans speak with a very musical cadence.
I love the cadence of your poem.
Mixing up cadence and decadence would be a big mistake.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The drummer set a steady ____ for the dancers to follow during the performance.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
I love the slow and steady ____ of the waves crashing on the beach.
Word Origin & History
Borrowed from Middle French cadence, from Old Italian cadenza (“conclusion of a phrase of music”), from Latin *cadentia (literally “a falling”), form of cadēns, the present participle of cadō (“to fall, to cease”). The Latin verb is inherited, via Proto-Italic *kadō, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱad-e- (“to fall”, thematic present). Doublet of cadenza and chance.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Now was the sun in western cadence low."
— 1667, John Milton, “Book X”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
"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."
— 1993, Ken Schultz, “Terror of the deep”, in Field and Stream, volume 98, number 5, page 102:
"You find not the apostrophas, and so miss the accent:
let me supervise the canzonet. Here are only numbers ratified;
but, for the elegancy, facility, and golden cadence of poesy,
caret."
— c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Loues Labour’s Lost”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene ii]:
"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."
— 1991 December 2, “At the Saudi-Kuwaiti Border”, in ABC Nightline:
"Blustering winds, which all night long / Had roused the sea, now with hoarse cadence lull / Seafaring men o'erwatched."
— 1667, John Milton, “Book II”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The drummer set a steady ____ for the dancers to follow during the performance.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
I love the slow and steady ____ of the waves crashing on the beach.