prosody

American  

[pros-uh-dee] / ˈprɒs ə di /

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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prosody British  

/ prəˈsɒdɪk, ˈprɒsədɪ /

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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Other Word Forms

• prosodic adjective
• prosodical adjective
• prosodist noun

Etymology

Origin of prosody

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Latin prosōdia, from Greek prosōidía “tone or accent, modulation of voice, song sung to music,” equivalent to prós “toward” + ōid(ḗ) ode + -ia -y ³