cadence
cad·ence/ˈkeɪ̯dəns/noun, verb
cadence is spelled C-A-D-E-N-C-E, 2 syllables: cad·ence. The wrong spelling people search most is cadance: about 950 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 19 of all searches for the word. Cadence is a noun meaning “The act or state of declining or sinking”. The plural of cadence is cadences.
How many letters and syllables are in cadence?
| Letters | 7: C-A-D-E-N-C-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: cad·ence |
| In writing | 1.3 times per million words; the 24,745th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, cadance, about 950 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How do you spell cadence?
Cadence is spelled C-A-D-E-N-C-E. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 19 of the searches for cadence in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is cadence?
Cadence appears 1.3 times per million words in written English, the 24,745th most frequent word form in the list. The list counts every capitalisation together, so this includes Cadence, the name.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce cadence?
- /ˈkeɪ̯dəns/
- [ˈkʰeɪ̯dəns] ~ [ˈkʰeɪ̯dn̩s]
Cadence has 2 syllables, split cad·ence in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-cadence.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of cadence
- cadences plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- cadencing participle, present
- cadenced participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does cadence mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The act or state of declining or sinking.
- 2
The measure or beat of movement.
- 3
Balanced, rhythmic flow.
- 4
The general inflection or modulation of the voice, or of any sound.
- 5
A progression of at least two chords which conclude a piece of music, section or musical phrases within it. Sometimes referred to analogously as musical punctuation.
- 6
A cadenza, or closing embellishment; a pause before the end of a strain, which the performer may fill with a flight of fancy.
- 7
A fall in inflection of a speaker’s voice, such as at the end of a sentence.
- 8
A dance move which ends a phrase.
The cadence in a galliard step refers to the final leap in a cinquepace sequence.
verb
- 1
To give a cadence to.
- 2
To give structure to.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Cadence in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | cadence |
| Spanish | cadencia |
| German | Rhythmus , Kadenz , Tonfall , Gleichschritt |
| Portuguese | cadência, ritmo , pedalagem |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does cadence come from?
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.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).