prosody.

1. The study of poetic form, especially patterns of meter and rhythm in verse.

2. A particular system, theory, or style governing how verse is structured.

3. The patterns of rhythm, stress, and pitch that extend across sounds in speech.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• study of prosody
• treatise on prosody
• principles of prosody

On the page

Her course in prosody covered meter, rhythm, and the organization of verse.

Usage notes

Primary category: academic / formal / analytical. Lexical Type: Word. Forms: Usually uncountable for the study of verse or speech rhythm; countable for particular systems or styles: singular prosody; plural prosodies. Commonness: uncommon (editorial estimate; not a corpus frequency statistic). Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1; numbered fields keep each relevant meaning separate. Research distinction: Dictionary explicitly distinguishes verse study, particular verse system or style, and rhythmic/intonational aspects of speech; countability varies by sense. Writing functions: language analysis, conceptual distinction.