From Greek prosōidia 'song added to speech,' originally the musical pitch accent of Greek, later generalized to rhythm and meter in all language.
The patterns of rhythm, stress, and intonation in speech or verse; the study of metrical structure in poetry.
From Greek prosōidia 'song sung to music, accent,' from pros- 'toward, in addition to' + ōidē 'song, ode.' In ancient Greek, prosody referred to the musical pitch accent that accompanied speech—the 'song added to' words. It later expanded to cover all rhythmic and intonational patterns. Key roots: *h₂weyd- (Proto-Indo-European: "to sing").