# rime

> English word · Noun · IPA /ɹaɪm/ · frequency rank #53,217

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

## 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

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-09-03.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/rime