rhythm

The word “rhythm” means a regular, repeating pattern of beats or sounds, especially in music or speech. In plain terms, a repeated, regular pattern of beats, sounds, or activity.

“Rhythm” is pronounced RIHTH-m (/ˈɹɪð.m̩/ in IPA).

Here is “rhythm” used in a sentence: “The drummer kept a steady rhythm throughout the song.”

Words with a similar meaning to “rhythm” include meter, metre and prosody.

“Rhythm” is a noun.

The word “rhythm” dates back to around 1557 and comes from Latin. Coined in English in 1557 from Latin rhythmus, from Greek rhythmos ("measured flow, movement"), from rheo ("to flow").

“Rhythm” is a fairly common word in modern English, usually learned at around the A2 level.

“Rhythm” has 2 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: a regular, repeating pattern of beats or sounds, especially in music or speech.

The beat is the steady underlying pulse of a piece of music — what you tap your foot to. Rhythm is the pattern of long and short sounds arranged over that pulse, so two songs can share the same beat but have completely different rhythms.

Tempo is the speed of the music — how fast or slow the beat moves. Rhythm is the repeating pattern of the sounds themselves, which stays recognizable whether you play it quickly or slowly.

Rhythm is spelled r-h-y-t-h-m, with no standard vowel letter — the y does the vowel work. The unusual look comes from its Greek origin, rhythmos, which also explains the rh- beginning found in other Greek borrowings such as rhetoric and rhinoceros.