rhyme
[ rahym ]
/ raɪm /
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noun
verb (used with object), rhymed, rhym·ing.
verb (used without object), rhymed, rhym·ing.
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Idioms about rhyme
rhyme or reason, logic, sense, or plan: There was no rhyme or reason for what they did.
Sometimes rime .
Origin of rhyme
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English rime, from Old French, derivative of rimer “to rhyme,” from unattested Gallo-Romance rimāre “to put in a row,” ultimately derived from Old High German rīm “series, row”; probably not connected with Latin rhythmus “rhythm,” although current spelling (from about 1600) is apparently by association with this word
historical usage of rhyme
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.
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.
OTHER WORDS FROM rhyme
WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH rhyme
rhyme , rhythmDictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use rhyme in a sentence
British Dictionary definitions for rhyme
rhyme
archaic rime
/ (raɪm) /
noun
verb
Derived forms of rhyme
rhymeless or rimeless, adjectiveWord 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
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Cultural definitions for rhyme
rhyme
A similarity of sound between words, such as moon, spoon, croon, tune, and June. Rhyme is often employed in verse.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.