Cadency definitions

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

CADENCY, n.
1. A fall, a decline; a state of sinking.
2. A fall of the voice in reading or speaking, as at the end of a sentence; also, the falling of the voice in the general modulation of tones in reciting. In reading or speaking, a certain tone is taken, which is called the key, or key-note, on which mot of the words are pronounced, and the fall of the voice below this tone is called cadence.
The ordinary cadence is a fall of the last syllable of a sentence only.
3. The general tone of reading verse. The cadence of one line must be a rule to that of the next; as the sound of the former must slide gently into that which follows.
4. Tone; sound; as, hoarse cadence.
5. In music, repose; the termination of a harmonical phrase on a repose or on a perfect chord.
Also, the manner of closing a song; embellishment at the close.
6. In horsemanship, an equal measure or proportion observed by a horse in all his motions.
7. In heraldry, the distinction of families.
CADENCE, v.t. To regulate by musical measure.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a recurrent rhythmical series [syn: cadence, cadency]

Merriam Webster's

noun (plural -cies) Date: 1627 cadence

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Cadency Ca"den*cy, n. Descent of related families; distinction between the members of a family according to their ages. Marks of cadency (Her.), bearings indicating the position of the bearer as older or younger son, or as a descendant of an older or younger son. See Difference (Her.).