| 释义 |
▪ I. rhythm, n.|ˈrɪð(ə)m, ˈrɪθ(ə)m|
Forms: 6–7 rhithme, rithme, 6–7, 9 rythme, 7 rhythme, rithm, 7–9 rythm, 8 rhithm, 7– rhythm.
[(1) In branch I, a graphic variant of rime n.1 (cf. rhyme n.) assimilated to L. rhythmus or F. rhythme, in 16–17th c. rithme. The rime-words time, crime (see quots. 1646, 1651, 1677) attest the pronunciation (raɪm). Cf. the spelling ri'me in B. Jonson Volpone Prol., the apostrophe representing the omitted th. (2) In branch II, directly ad. L. rhythmus (see rhythmus).]
I.
†1.
a. Riming or rimed verse; a form or variety of this. Obs. Cf. rhyme n. 2.
c1557Abp. Parker Ps. A ij, Rythme dogrell playne: as dogs do barke. 1575Gascoigne Cert. Notes Instr. Eng. Verse (Arb.) 39 Then is there an old kinde of Rithme called Verlayes. 1582Stanyhurst æneis Ded. (Arb.) 8 Thee ods beetweene verses and rythme is verye great. For in thee one euerye foote,..euery letter is too bee obserued: in thee oother thee last woord is onlye too bee heeded. 1651Cleveland Poems A 5 b, After a tedious Grace in Hopkins rithme [edd. 1654, etc., rhime, rhyme], Not for devotion, but to take up time. 1677J. Poole Eng. Parnassus 314 [300] And what were crime In Prose, would be no injury in Rhythm. 1695Ld. Preston Boeth. Pref. 14 The Author's Sense could not be clearly expressed in the more confin'd way of Rithme [ed. 1712 Rhyme].
†b. rhythm royal: see rhyme n. 2 c. Obs.
1575Gascoigne Cert. Notes Instr. Eng. Verse (Arb.) 38 Rythme royall is a verse of tenne sillables, and seuen such verses make a staffe [etc.]... This hath bene called Rithme royall, and surely it is a royall kinde of verse, seruing best for graue discourses.
2. A piece of riming verse. Obs. (Common in 17th cent.) Cf. rhyme n. 1.
1591Spenser Visions Petrarch vii, When ye these rythmes doo read, and vew the rest. 1646in J. Hall Poems To Author, Thy lines pardon the Presse for all the rhythmes, That have committed bin in sencelesse times. 1655Fuller Hist. Cambr. 8 When a Monk of Peterburgh..had, with his satyrical Latine rythmes, abused the Countie of Norfolk. 1677J. Poole Eng. Parnassus Proeme, And like Amphion build a lofty Rhythm, That shall out-last the insolence of time.
†3. The fact of lines ending in the same sound; an instance of this. Obs. Cf. rhyme n. 3.
15991st Booke Preserv. Hen. VII, Ded. A 2 Whose bookes are stuft with lines of prose, with a rythme in the end. 1677J. Poole Eng. Parnassus Pref. a 3 b, Mr. Sa. Daniel's Apology for Rhythm [i.e. his ‘Defence of Ryme’]. Ibid. a 6 b, To avoid fœminine rhythms, such as charity and parity. 1680H. More Apocal. Apoc. 332 If there be not more rhythme than Reason in those drolling verses of his.
II.
4. Pros. The measured recurrence of arsis and thesis determined by vowel-quantity or stress, or both combined; kind of metrical movement, as determined by the relation of long and short, or stressed and unstressed, syllables in a foot or a line.
1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 201 For nothinge is more pleasaunte than hys [sc. Clément Marot's] style, nothynge purer than his speache, nothyng apter or more pleasaunt than hys Rythme. 1589Puttenham Eng. Poesie ii. v[i]. (Arb.) 91 As we in abusing this terme (ryme) be neuerthelesse excusable applying it to another point in Poesie no lesse curious then their rithme or numerositie which in deede passed the whole verse throughout. 1603Holland Plutarch's Mor. 1259 When the melody and rhythme or measure was artificially set to. 1657Sparrow Bk. Com. Prayer, Churching of Women 361 They used all decent and grave variety of rythmes and Meeters in their Hymns & Psalms. 1737E. Manwaring Stichology viii. 27 All Metre is therefore Rhythm, but not all Rhythm Metre. 1838Guest Hist. Eng. Rhythms I. 174 The forms in which accentual rhythm made its first appearance amongst us. Ibid., No temporal rhythms are to be found in our literature. 1845L. Schmitz tr. Zumpt's Lat. Gram. §827 The first species, in which the Arsis forms the beginning, is called the descending Rhythm; the other, in which the Thesis forms the beginning, the ascending. 1871Pub. Sch. Lat. Gram. §227. 467 A most exceptional but felicitous rhythm: ‘Et membratim vitalem deperdere sensus’. 1891S. R. Driver Introd. Lit. O.T. vii. 339 In ancient Hebrew poetry, though there was always rhythm, there was..no metre in the strict sense of the term.
b. Rhythmical or metrical form.
1656Stanley Hist. Philos. viii. 35 Poem..is a speech in meeter or rhithme. 1657Sparrow Bk. Com. Prayer, Churching of Women (1684) 314 One began and sang in rhythm, the rest..hearing with silence. 1763J. Brown Poetry & Mus. §5. 50 The oldest Compositions among the Arabs are in Rythm or rude Verse. 1847Tennyson Princess iv. 121 Ourself have often tried Valkyrian hymns, or into rhythm have dash'd The passion of the prophetess.
†c. A metrical foot. Obs.
1737E. Manwaring Stichology ii. 10 A simple Rhythm or Foot, says Dionysius, has not less than two Syllables, nor more than three. 1749Power Of Numbers 13 These are indifferently called Rhythms, Numbers or Feet.
d. The measured flow of words or phrases.
1832[see rhetorical 1 c]. 1855H. Reed Lect. Eng. Lit. iii. (1878) 107 This fashion of short sentences is fatal to the fine rhythm, which English prose is capable of. 1859Geo. Eliot A. Bede xviii, The church service.., its recurrent responses and the familiar rhythm of its collects. 1863A. M. Bell Princ. Speech 102 In every sentence, however uttered, there is a rhythm.
5. Mus.
a. That feature of musical composition which depends on the systematic grouping of notes according to their duration.
b. Kind of structure as determined by the arrangement of such groups.
For the relation between rhythm, accent, and time, see Grove Dict. Mus. s.v.
1776Burney Hist. Mus. I. vi. 76 Ancient music..must have derived this power chiefly from the energy and accentuation of the rhythm. 1786J. Gillies Hist. Greece I. v. 179 As accent regulated the melody, quantity regulated the rhythm of ancient music. 1873H. C. Banister Mus. xxxiv. 170 Rhythm..or metre has to do with the symmetrical arrangement of music, with regard to time and accent. 1879Stainer Mus. Bible 170 The rhythm of this tune is so symmetrical that it might well be used as a hymn tune. 1880F. Hueffer in Grove Dict. Mus. II. 148 In the opening allegro agitato descriptive of Mazeppa's ride, strong accents and rapid rhythms naturally prevail.
c. ellipt. A rhythm instrument or musician (also sing. for pl.); a rhythm section. orig. U.S.
1938D. Baker Young Man with Horn iii. 145 Every fourth dance..turned out to be a trumpet solo by Rick Martin, flanked by some rhythm. 1947R. de Toledano Frontiers of Jazz 68 The instrumental blend and precision of each section—reed, brass, rhythm. 1956M. Stearns Story of Jazz (1957) xv. 170 The standard number of musicians in a dance band was nine: two trumpets, two saxes, one trombone, and four rhythm (banjo, piano, drums, and tuba). 1970New Yorker 23 May 80/3 Sy Oliver..is holding a retrospective of his work..with the help of a nine-piece group that includes two trumpets,..and three rhythms.
6. Art. Due correlation and interdependence of parts, producing a harmonious whole.
1776Burney Hist. Mus. I. vi. 71 In which [works in painting and sculpture] they [sc. the Greeks] have called that symetry and just proportion which reigns in all the parts by the name of rhythm. 1867Barry Sir C. Barry iv. 101 The rhythm and symmetry of a stately Italian palace. 1880Jrnl. Hellenic Stud. I. 193 While symmetry is an architectural idea,..rhythm is a plastic idea... Symmetry implies and expresses the lasting, uniform and inorganic; rhythm implies change, the organic, as sculpture deals with animal life.
7. a. gen. Movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions.
1855Bain Senses & Int. Introd. ii. §18. 48 This action follows a certain order or rhythm. 1873H. Spencer Stud. Sociol. v. 105 In such complex and slowly evolving movements as those of a nation's life, all the smaller and greater rhythms of which fall within certain general directions. 1874L. Morris Songs of Two Worlds, Marching iv, The rhythm of their feet. 1891T. Hardy Tess l, So do flux and reflux—the rhythm of change—alternate and persist in everything under the sky.
b. Phys. and Path. of functional movements.
1722Quincy Lex. Physico-Med., Rhithm..is used to express a certain number of Pulses in any given time. 1834J. Forbes Laennec's Dis. Chest (ed. 4) 495 The movements of the heart.., their order or rythm. 1876J. S. Bristowe The. & Pract. Med. (1878) 363 The respiratory rhythm. 1898Allbutt's Syst. Med. V. 813 Rhythm [of the heart] is not the rate but the proportion of motion.
c. Physical Sci.
1862Tyndall Mountaineer. ii. 91 Rhythm is the rule with Nature;—she abhors uniformity more than she does a vacuum. 1873H. Spencer Stud. Sociol. viii. 181 From antagonist physical forces..there always results, not a medium state, but a rhythm between opposite states. 1881Nature XXIV. 318 That the chief novelty is an absolute rhythm in the spectrum; instead of lines irregularly distributed over the spectrum, we have groups which are beautifully rhythmic in their structure. 1890Ibid. 6 Feb. 322/1 The ‘rhythm’ of cell-division. 1891Sir R. Ball Ice Age 163 There must have been a species of rhythm in the manufacture of the stratified rocks.
8. Geol. and Physical Geogr. Regularity in the way something is repeated in space; also, a feature that is repeated at regular intervals of space.
1914C. B. Crampton Geol. of Caithness ix. 89 Sedimentary rhythm in marine deposits usually depends on the principle of the development of calcareous and terrigenous strata from opposite directions to overlap one another. 1924Proc. Yorks. Geol. Soc. XX. 125 There is a rhythm in the succession of the beds, occasionally interrupted, but always discernible. 1937Bull. Geol. Soc. Amer. XLVIII. 1935 Many mud-sand rhythms include strata too thick for seasonal accumulation. 1951Geol. Mag. LXXXVIII. 166 The major rhythmic units attain a thickness of 100 or so feet but minor or partial rhythms also occur suggesting small changes in the intensity of the flow movement. 1976P. D. Komar Beach Processes & Sedimentation x. 278 For many reported occurrences it is not possible to determine whether crescentic bars or some other shoreline rhythm are being described.
9. a. attrib. and Comb., as (sense 1) † rhythm prose; (sense 4) rhythm-foot, rhythm-word; rhythm-deaf, rhythm-drunk adjs.; (sense 5) rhythm-accent, rhythm dancer, rhythm group, rhythm musician, rhythm-pattern, rhythm singing; rhythm and blues orig. U.S., blues music with a strong rhythm; rhythm club Hist., a club which specialized in the presentation of jazz; rhythm guitar, a guitar upon which the chord sequences of a melody are played; so rhythm guitarist; rhythm instrument, an instrument that constitutes part of the rhythm section of a musical band; rhythm man, one who plays a rhythm instrument; rhythm section, that part of a musical (orig. jazz) band whose main function is to supply the rhythm, often consisting of a piano, double-bass, and drums, sometimes with a guitar or other instruments.
1948Penguin Music Mag. Oct. 36 For instance, Russian composers rely on rhythm-accent for their effect more than on harmony or melody. 1949Billboard 25 June 30/2 Records listed are rhythm and blues records that sold best in stores according to the Billboard's special weekly survey. 1955A. J. McCarthy Jazzbook 1955 84 Rhythm and blues is a Negro music and it was already in full flower when the jazz fans became aware of its existence. The actual musical content of the average rhythm and blues record is very limited. 1960Melody Maker 31 Dec. 5/2 When we got to ‘The Preacher’, they both objected violently. ‘No, no, no, no! We can't record that! That's rhythm and blues!’ 1967J. Wilson in L. Deighton London Dossier 25 The Stones..had their first central London club engagement at the old Marquee. Rhythm 'n Blues in England began there with the late Cyril Davis, who died a few years ago. 1977McKnight & Tobler Bob Marley 10 Unlike soul, jazz or rhythm and blues, reggae remains the inviolable preserve of black musicians.
1933Melody Maker 2 Dec. 2/1 (heading) All the rhythm clubs doing well. 1959‘F. Newton’ Jazz Scene xiii. 246 The student will observe the absence of Rhythm Clubs in Hampstead, Kensington or Chelsea. 1963Listener 14 Mar. 458/1 People of my generation had to rely on their gramophones and the rhythm clubs to carry them through this period of deprivation.
1942Rhythm dancer [see jitterbug n. 2].
1926Fowler Mod. Eng. Usage 505/2 This writer has produced a single sentence seventeen lines long without a single slip in grammar. That so expert a syntactician should be rhythm-deaf is amazing.
1916W. B. Yeats Reveries over Childhood 194 Verse spoken by a man almost rhythm-drunk at some moment of intensity.
1883G. M. Hopkins 7 Nov. Let. (1956) 329 Music is..the very place where the difference of time-feet and rhythm-feet recognised in Greek poetry is still in force. 1959G. Freeman Jack would be Gentleman vi. 129 ‘Give us a song first.’.. ‘Okay; but you'll have to do without the rhythm group.’ 1973Guitar Sept. 5/2 Plenty of familiar faces in the band:..Charlie McCracken (ex-Taste, bass) and Spencer on rhythm and slide guitar. 1977McKnight & Tobler Bob Marley vi. 79 The instrumental chores of the band were shared like this: Marley—vocals, rhythm guitar; Family Man—bass.
1967Listener 21 Dec. 802/1 If you encounter a little riot of colour ambling along Charing Cross Road,..it is the rhythm guitarist of The Who. 1977Zigzag Mar. 17/5 Bill Cheatham..switched from being their roadie to their rhythm guitarist.
1927Melody Maker Sept. 926/3 The bass, being a rhythm instrument, must conform to the rhythm set by the rhythm section. 1952B. Ulanov Hist. Jazz in Amer. (1958) vi. 51 The rhythm instruments—drums, bass, and guitar—made up the engine that powered the jazz machine: their function was to keep the syncopated beat going in regular almost inflexible alternations of weak and strong accents.
1949L. Feather Inside Be-Bop iii. 96 Seldom takes solos, but fine rhythm man. 1952B. Ulanov Hist. Jazz in Amer. vi. 66 St. Cyr is the redoubtable rhythm man who kept such a fine beat going for Jelly Roll Morton's Red Hot Peppers and Louis Armstrong's Hot Five and Seven. 1977Rolling Stone 19 May 83/1 Problems related to studio overdubbing (not Benson, but rhythm musicians).
1946R. Blesh Shining Trumpets i. 18 Rhythm-pattern of dancers' feet. 1970Rhythm pattern [see rhythmic a. 1 a].
15991st Booke Preserv. Hen. VII, Ded. A 4 As gould surpasseth leade: so the Hexameters surpasse rythme prose. 1927Rhythm section [see rhythm instrument above]. 1938D. Baker Young Man with Horn iii. 117 Rick..started setting chairs together..in threes: reed section, brass section, rhythm section. 1955A. Morgan in A. J. McCarthy Jazzbook 1955 18 With a coloured front line..and a mixed white and coloured rhythm section (Dodo Marmorosa, Barney Kessell, Red Callender and Don Lamond) these recordings are amongst the best examples of the use of a guitar in a bop rhythm section. 1977Times 15 Nov. 17/6 An enthusiastic rhythm section whose drummer..sometimes allowed his effervescence to occlude his marvellous sense of swing.
1934S. R. Nelson All about Jazz iv. 73 Whiteman..started the fashion for organized rhythm singing with the Rhythm Boys. 1977Belfast Tel. 22 Feb. 8/2 The American group's breed of close harmony and tight rhythm singing.
c1874G. M. Hopkins Jrnls. & Papers (1959) 279 In Greek the scanning is by..rhythmic beat, that is beat belonging only to the rhythm-words, not to the sense-words.
b. Used attrib. with reference to the periodic variation of fertility in women, esp. in rhythm method, a method of birth control depending upon continence during the period of ovulation.
[1920W. M. Gallichan Critical Age of Woman iii. 52 (heading) The sexual rhythm in women.] 1934New Republic 5 Sept. 98/2 The rhythm theory of fertility and sterility in women was briefly explained to the Committee. 1940N. E. Himes Pract. Birth-Control Meth. viii. 125 Most authorities..believe the rhythm method unreliable. Ibid. 126 If a Catholic woman will not use a scientific method, it is perhaps better that she use the rhythm method than none at all. 1955P. S. Henshaw Adaptive Human Fertility xi. 208 Couples who wish to use the rhythm method for preventing conception have been advised to avoid coitus during the period of the nineteenth through the ninth day before the beginning of the next expected menstrual period. 1961Guardian 3 Mar. 13/3 Even those most hostile to the use of contraceptives are in favour of the rhythm method. 1971Sunday Mirror 25 July 11 We follow the rhythm system. But we don't use it to avoid procreation. We use it to have children. That's the way it was meant to be. 1972Human World May 23 You use the rhythm method not just by having intercourse now, but by not having it next week, say.
▪ II. † rhythm, v. rare.
In 7 rythm.
[Graphic variant of rime v.1: see prec.]
= rhyme v. 1.
1650–66Wharton Wks. (1683) 356 Rythm you whose measures charm you better luck; I must be mute. |