rhyme

or rime

[ rahym ]

/ raɪm /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR rhyme ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

identity in sound of some part, especially the end, of words or lines of verse.

a word agreeing with another in terminal sound: Find is a rhyme for mind and womankind.

verse or poetry having correspondence in the terminal sounds of the lines.

a poem or piece of verse having such correspondence.

verse(def 4).

verb (used with object), rhymed, rhym·ing.

to treat in rhyme, as a subject; turn into rhyme, as something in prose.

to compose (verse or the like) in metrical form with rhymes.

to use (a word) as a rhyme to another word; use (words) as rhymes.

verb (used without object), rhymed, rhym·ing.

to make rhyme or verse; versify.

to use rhyme in writing verse.

to form a rhyme, as one word or line with another: a word that rhymes with orange.

to be composed in metrical form with rhymes, as verse: poetry that rhymes.

Nearby words

rhumb line, rhumb sailing, rhumba, rhumbatron, rhus, rhyme, rhyme or reason, no, rhyme royal, rhyme scheme, rhymester, rhyming slang

Idioms

rhyme or reason, logic, sense, or plan: There was no rhyme or reason for what they did.

Origin of rhyme

1250–1300; Middle English rime < Old French, derivative of rimer to rhyme < Gallo-Romance *rimāre to put in a row ≪ Old High German rīm series, row; probably not connected with Latin rhythmus rhythm, although current spelling (from c1600) apparently by association with this word

Related forms

rhym·er, nounin·ter·rhyme, verb (used without object), in·ter·rhymed, in·ter·rhym·ing.mis·rhymed, adjectivenon·rhyme, noun

non·rhymed, adjectivenon·rhym·ing, adjectiveout·rhyme, verb (used with object), out·rhymed, out·rhym·ing.un·rhyme, verb (used with object), un·rhymed, un·rhym·ing.well-rhymed, adjective

Can be confusedrhyme rhythm

Word story

The spelling and etymology of the noun rhyme fall between two stools. Its Middle English forms rym (in The Canterbury Tales, from around 1387), ryym (in Wycliffe’s Bible ), and rime derive from Anglo-French, Old French, and Middle French rime, ryme. Note the absence of h in all these spellings.
The source of the French rime is from an unrecorded Gallo-Romance verb rimāre “to set in a row,” a derivative of the Germanic noun rīm “number, series,” and possibly developing the senses “series of rhymed syllables” and “rhymed verse.”
The English spelling rhyme dates from around 1600 and shows the influence of the unrelated Latin rhetorical term rhythmus “a patterned sequence of sounds; measured flow of words or phrases in prose,” a borrowing from Greek rhythmós, which has the same meanings.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for rhyming

DI taught even 4-year-olds to understand sounds, syllables, and rhyming.
Equality Matters More Than Integration in Schools|John McWhorter|May 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST
To my surprise, rhyming "Santorum" with "Purim" proved very popular with readers.
The Song of Newt Gingrich: From Longshot To Hotshot To No Shot||April 26, 2012|DAILY BEAST
If you have to sing you may just slip back into rhyming from my mouth or my throat or rhyming where we naturally speak.
The Thinking Man’s Rapper|Touré|March 6, 2009|DAILY BEAST
A closer scrutiny revealed that the handwriting was that of his Uncle Benjamin, the rhyming friend and counselor of his childhood.
True to His Home|Hezekiah Butterworth

“Your sister has been telling me about that rhyming craze of yours,” the little man said suddenly one day.
Big Game|Mrs. George de Horne Vaizey
His plays, his rhyming plays in particular, are admirable subjects for those who wish to study the morbid anatomy of the drama.
The Miscellaneous Writings and Speeches of Lord Macaulay, Vol. 2 (of 4)|Thomas Babington Macaulay
A stroller he was, of course, but not a minstrel in any other sense than as a keeper of a rhyming diary.
Literary Celebrities of the English Lake-District|Frederick Sessions
It is a mixture of the national alliterative verse loosely constructed and rhyming couplets.
Selections from Early Middle English 1130-1250: Part II: Notes|Various

British Dictionary definitions for rhyming

rhyme

archaic rime

/ (raɪm) /

noun

identity of the terminal sounds in lines of verse or in words

a word that is identical to another in its terminal sound``while'' is a rhyme for ``mile''

a verse or piece of poetry having corresponding sounds at the ends of the linesthe boy made up a rhyme about his teacher

any verse or piece of poetry

rhyme or reason sense, logic, or meaningthis proposal has no rhyme or reason

verb

to use (a word) or (of a word) to be used so as to form a rhyme; be or make identical in sound

to render (a subject) into rhyme

to compose (verse) in a metrical structure

Derived Formsrhymeless or rimeless, adjective

Word Origin for rhyme

C12: from Old French rime, from rimer to rhyme, from Old High German rīm a number; spelling influenced by rhythm

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 rhyming (1 of 2)

rhyme

"agreement in terminal sounds," 1560s, partially restored spelling, from Middle English ryme, rime (c.1200) "measure, meter, rhythm," later "rhymed verse" (mid-13c.), from Old French rime (fem.), related to Old Provençal rim (masc.), earlier *ritme, from Latin rithmus, from Greek rhythmos "measured motion, time, proportion" (see rhythm).

In Medieval Latin, rithmus was used for accentual, as opposed to quantitative, verse, and accentual verse usually was rhymed, hence the sense shift. Persistence of older form is due to popular association with Old English rim "number," from PIE root *re(i)- "to reason, count" (see read (v.)). Phrase rhyme or reason "good sense" (chiefly used in the negative) is from late 15c. (see reason (n.)). Rhyme scheme is attested from 1931. Rhyme royal (1841) is a stanza of seven 10-syllable lines rhymed a-b-a-b-b-c-c.

Word Origin and History for rhyming (1 of 2)

rhyme

"make verses, make rhymes," c.1300, rimen, from Old French rimer, from rime "verse" (see rhyme (n.)). Attested 1670s (of words) in sense "to have the same end sound." Modern spelling is from 1650s, by influence of rhythm. Related: Rhymed; rhyming. The phrase rhyming slang is attested from 1859.

Culture definitions for rhyming

rhyme

A similarity of sound between words, such as moon, spoon, croon, tune, and June. Rhyme is often employed in verse.

rhyme

or rime

noun

verb (used with object), rhymed, rhym·ing.

verb (used without object), rhymed, rhym·ing.

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Nearby words

Idioms

Origin of rhyme

Word story

Examples from the Web for rhyming

British Dictionary definitions for rhyming

rhyme

archaic rime

noun

verb

Word Origin for rhyme

Word Origin and History for rhyming (1 of 2)

rhyme

Word Origin and History for rhyming (1 of 2)

rhyme

Culture definitions for rhyming

rhyme