rime

/ɹaɪm/

//ɹaɪm// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"rime" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“rime” is uncommon English (frequency #53,217 among 3,094 “R” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#53,217
frequency rank, English
3,094
“R” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Archaic in the form rimes: originally, any frozen dew forming a white deposit on exposed surfaces; hoar frost (sense 1).

Corpus desk

Index EN-rime · rime · English

rime · rank #53,217 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #53,217
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,094
  • PHOTO-FINISH riba

Nearest frequency peer: riba (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “rime”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “rime” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for rime
PropertyValue
Headwordrime
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ɹaɪm/
Letters4
Frequency rank#53,217
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “rime” in English

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).rimefalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “riba” (#53,216), “rotisserie” (#53,218), “revelry” (#53,215). Among 3,094 “R” headwords, “rime” is #53,217. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

rime is uncommon English at frequency #53,217 among 3,094 “R” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ɹaɪm/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 6 senses are on record.

No generated misspelling entries exist for rime in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: The noun is derived from Middle English rim, rime, rym, ryme (“hoar frost; rime”), from Old English hrīm (“frost”), from Proto-West Germanic *hrīm (“rime; hoar frost”), from Proto-Germanic *hrīmą (North Germanic), *hrīmaz, *hrīmô (“rime; hoar frost”), proba… The correct English form is rime, spelled R-I-M-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Archaic in the form rimes: originally, any frozen dew forming a white deposit on exposed surfaces; hoar frost (sense 1).
  2. 2
    A film or slimy coating.
  3. 3
    White hair as an indication of old age.
  4. 4
    Ice formed by the rapid freezing of cold water droplets of fog on to a cold surface.
  5. 5
    A coating or sheet of ice so formed.
  6. 6
    A cold fog or mist.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how rime appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. In a Hoar-Froſt, that vvhich vve call a Rime, is a Multitude of Quadrangular Priſmes, exactly figured, but piled vvithout any Order, one over another.
  2. Sylphs! if vvith morn deſtructive Eurus ſprings, / O, claſp the Harebel vvith your velvet vvings; / Screen vvith thick leaves the Jaſmine as it blovvs, / And ſhake the vvhite rime from the ſhuddering Roſe; […]

Etymology

The noun is derived from Middle English rim, rime, rym, ryme (“hoar frost; rime”), from Old English hrīm (“frost”), from Proto-West Germanic *hrīm (“rime; hoar frost”), from Proto-Germanic *hrīmą (North Germanic), *hrīmaz, *hrīmô (“rime; hoar frost”), probably from Proto-Indo-European *krey- (“to graze, touch; to streak”). The verb is derived from the noun. (The Old English equivalent, which did not survive into modern English, was behrīman.) Cognates * Middle Dutch riim, rijm, rīm (modern Dutch rijm (“hoar frost”)) * Old Danish *rim (only in rimfrost (“rime frost”); modern Danish rim (“hoar frost”)) * Old French rime, rimee (Middle French rime, rimee (“hoar frost”), Anglo-Norman rime, rimee (“hoar frost”)) * Old High German rīm (Middle High German rīm, Bavarian Reim (“dew; fog; light frost”) (dialectal)) * Old Norse hrím (Icelandic hrím, Norwegian rim (“hoar frost”)) * Old Saxon hrīm * Old Swedish *riim, *rim (only in rimfrost (“rime frost”); modern Swedish rim) * West Frisian rime, rym

This word in other languages

escarcha(Español)givre(Français)Raureif(Deutsch)geada(Português)

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

How do you spell "rime"?
"rime" is spelled R-I-M-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ɹaɪm/.
What does "rime" mean?
As a noun, "rime" means: Archaic in the form rimes: originally, any frozen dew forming a white deposit on exposed surfaces; hoar frost (sense 1).
How do you pronounce "rime"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "rime" is /ɹaɪm/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "rime"?
The noun is derived from Middle English rim, rime, rym, ryme (“hoar frost; rime”), from Old English hrīm (“frost”), from Proto-West Germanic *hrīm (“rime; hoar frost”), from Proto-Germanic *hrīmą (North Germanic), *hrīmaz, *hrīmô (“rime; hoar fros... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "rime", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

riba#53,216puta#53,189pica#53,166teat#53,293

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list