1. (n.) In the widest sense, a dividing into short portions by a regular succession of motions, impulses, sounds, accents, etc., producing an agreeable effect, as in music poetry, the dance, or the like.

2. (n.) Movement in musical time, with periodical recurrence of accent; the measured beat or pulse which marks the character and expression of the music; symmetry of movement and accent.

3. (n.) A division of lines into short portions by a regular succession of arses and theses, or percussions and remissions of voice on words or syllables.

4. (n.) The harmonious flow of vocal sounds.

Alexandrine accent accentuation alternation amphibrach amphimacer anacrusis anapest antispast arrhythmia arsis bacchius balance beat beating beauty cadence cadency caesura catalexis chloriamb chloriambus colon concinnity counterpoint cretic cyclicalness dactyl dactylic hexameter diaeresis dimeter dipody dochmiac downbeat drumming elegiac elegiac couplet elegiac pentameter emphasis epitrite equilibrium euphony feminine caesura flutter foot harmony heartbeat heartthrob heptameter heptapody heroic couplet hexameter hexapody iamb iambic iambic pentameter ictus intermittence intermittency ionic jingle level of stress lilt masculine caesura measure measuredness meter metrical accent metrical foot metrical group metrical unit metrics metron molossus mora movement number numbers order orderedness oscillation paeon palpitation pendulum motion pentameter pentapody period periodicalness periodicity piston motion pitapat pitter-patter primary stress proceleusmatic proportion prosodics prosody pulsation pulse pyrrhic quantity rat-a-tat rataplan reappearance recurrence regular wave motion reoccurrence return rhyme rhythmic pattern rhythmical stress seasonality secondary stress spondee sprung rhythm staccato stress stress accent stress pattern sweetness swing symmetry syzygy tempo tertiary stress tetrameter tetrapody tetraseme thesis throb throbbing time timing tribrach trimeter tripody triseme trochee undulation upbeat weak stress