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prosody

[pros-uh-dee]
noun
  1. the science or study of poetic meters and versification.
  2. a particular or distinctive system of metrics and versification: Milton's prosody.
  3. Linguistics. the stress and intonation patterns of an utterance.
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Origin of prosody

1400–50; late Middle English < Latin prosōdia < Greek prosōidía tone or accent, modulation of voice, song sung to music, equivalent to prós toward + ōid(ḗ) ode + -ia -y3
Related formspro·sod·ic [pruh-sod-ik] /prəˈsɒd ɪk/, pro·sod·i·cal, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
British Dictionary definitions for prosodic

prosody

noun
  1. the study of poetic metre and of the art of versification, including rhyme, stanzaic forms, and the quantity and stress of syllables
  2. a system of versification
  3. the patterns of stress and intonation in a language
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Derived Formsprosodic (prəˈsɒdɪk), adjectiveprosodist, noun

Word Origin

C15: from Latin prosōdia accent of a syllable, from Greek prosōidia song set to music, from pros towards + ōidē, from aoidē song; see ode
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for prosodic

prosody

n.

late 15c., from Latin prosodia "accent of a syllable," from Greek prosoidia "song sung to music," also "accent, modulation," literally "a singing in addition to," from pros "to, forward, near" + oide "song, poem" (see ode). Related: Prosodiacal; prosodist.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper