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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

A variant of rhyme (noun and verb), from Middle English rim, rime, ryme (“identical sound in words from the vowel in their stressed syllables to their ends; measure, meter, rhythm; song, verse, etc., with rhyming lines”, noun), and Middle English rimen, rymen, rim, rime (“to recite or write verse; to sing songs; to tell a story in verse; to fit into verse; (figurative) to agree, make sense”, verb): see further at rhyme.

From Middle English rimen, rime (“to count, enumerate”) [and other forms], from Old English rīman, rȳman (“to count, number, reckon; to calculate, compute, count up; to enumerate, recount; to account, esteem as”) (rare), from Proto-Germanic *rīmijaną, *rīmaną (“to count, enumerate”), from Proto-Indo-European *(a)rēy- (“to add; to count; to customize; to order, regulate”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *h₂rey- (“to arrange; to count”), ultimately from *h₂er- (“to fit, put together; to fix; to slot”), and thus a doublet of rhyme.

From Middle English rimen, rime (“to clear (a way); to make room for (something); to open up (something); to prepare (something)”) [and other forms], from Old English rīman, rȳman (“to make roomy, enlarge, extend, spread, widen; to make clear by removing obstructions, to clear a way, clear, open up; to amplify; to prolong”) [and other forms], from Proto-West Germanic *rūmijan (“to clear out, make room”), from Proto-Germanic *rūmijaną (“to clear out, make room”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *Hrewh₁- (“to open; wide”). Doublet of room.

From Irish ruaim, from Old Irish rúam (“alder tree; alder bark; dye for wool made from alder bark; dun or red colour”) (probably whence Irish ruaimnigh, Old Irish rúamnaigid (“to dye red”)); further etymology unknown.

The noun is derived from Late Middle English rim (“cleft, crack, fissure”), from Latin rīma (“chink, cleft, crack, fissure”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(H)reyH- (“to cut; to tear”). Doublet of rima. The verb is derived from Latin rīmārī, the present active infinitive of rīmor (“to explore; to probe; to search”), from rīma (see above) + -or.