rim
/ɹɪm/
"rim" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“rim” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #8,979 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #8,979
- frequency rank, English
- 3
- letters
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An edge around something, especially when circular.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | rim |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ɹɪm/ |
| Letters | 3 |
| Frequency rank | #8,979 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “rim” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for rim is 3 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ɹɪm/. Corpus data places it at rank #8,979 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Zero misspellings are on record for rim in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "RS", "RT", "RM", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English rim, rym, rime, from Old English rima (“rim, edge, border, bank, coast”), from Proto-Germanic *rimô, *rembô (“edge, border”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *rem-, *remə- (“to rest, support, be based”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian … The correct English form is rim, spelled R-I-M.
Definition
- 1An edge around something, especially when circular.
- 2A wheelrim.
- 3A semicircular copydesk.
- 4The narrow surface of wine that meets the glass when it is tilted, used in identifying the age, body, etc.
Etymology
From Middle English rim, rym, rime, from Old English rima (“rim, edge, border, bank, coast”), from Proto-Germanic *rimô, *rembô (“edge, border”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *rem-, *remə- (“to rest, support, be based”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Rim (“plank, wooden cross, trellis”), Old Saxon rimi (“edge; border; trim”), Icelandic rimi (“a strip of land”).
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “rim”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is R-I-M - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ɹɪm/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “RS” - see the side-by-side comparison. rim vs RS
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.