rhythmic

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French rhythmique, recorded in Middle French by 1520, now rythmique, and directly borrowed from Latin rhythmicus (“of or concerned with rhythm”),^[2][3][4][5] from Ancient Greek ῥυθμικός (rhuthmikós, “set to time, rhythmical”),^[2][3][6] from ῥυθμός (rhuthmós, “measured flow or movement, rhythm”), the source of rhythm.^[2][3][7] The Greek noun is formed with a suffix on the stem of ῥέω (rhéō, “to flow”),^[7][3] from Proto-Indo-European *sreu- (“to flow”).^[3][8] The OED notes that rhythmical is earlier;^[2][4] Etymonline dates it to the 1560s.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of, relating to or concerning rhythm: 1603, in P. Holland's translation of Plutarch,^[2] where it also appears as a noun, the rhythmic, the science or theory of rhythm.^[2][4] Etymonline dates the word to about 1600.^[3]

Semantic evolution

By about 1631, in Donne's poems, it was used of language, verse and music that have rhythm, especially a pleasant or flowing one;^[2][3][6] Merriam-Webster takes this as its first known use.^[6] From 1773 it described any action, movement or sound with a marked, recurring pattern,^[2][4] and in physiology, from 1826, a heartbeat or breathing that recurs at regular intervals.^[2] A figurative use, of things that cohere in a regular pattern, appears in Carlyle (1841).^[2] Geologists have used it since 1895 for periodic alternation in sedimentary deposits.^[2][4] The noun, the science of rhythm, was used until the late 19th century.^[2][4] The OED's first edition (1908) also recorded a pronunciation with the sound of th in thin.^[2]

Timeline

• 1603 – relating to rhythm; noun, the theory of rhythm (obsolete after 1879).^[2]
• before 1631 – of verse or music, having rhythm, in Donne.^[2][6]
• 1773 – of a movement or sound, having a marked recurrent pattern.^[2]
• 1826 – in physiology, recurring at regular intervals.^[2]
• 1841 – figurative, in Carlyle.^[2]
• 1895 – in geology, of periodic deposition.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Having or marked by a strong, regular rhythm: the rhythmic beat of the oars.^[6][8][9][2]
2. Recurring at regular intervals; periodic: rhythmic contractions.^[8][9][2]
3. Of or relating to rhythm, as in verse or music.^[9][2][4]
4. (geology) Showing a regular alternation of layers in sedimentary deposits.^[2][4]

Word family

• rhythmically
• eurhythmic
• nonrhythmic
• rhythmicity
• arrhythmic
• rhythmical
• unrhythmic

Related words

• rhythm
• rhyme
• rheum
• eurhythmics

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
9. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins