What does rime mean?
Rime is a literary and somewhat specialized word for frost, especially the delicate white coating of ice that forms on plants, windows, and other surfaces when freezing droplets or vapor settle on them. In technical contexts, rime ice is distinguished from ordinary frost because it forms through the freezing of supercooled water droplets. The word can also be used as a traditional spelling of rhyme, especially in verse, although this use is uncommon in ordinary modern English. Rime is pronounced like rhyme in most accents, which can make its two quite different associations memorable: one is wintry and natural, while the other belongs to poetry. The older sense survives mainly in literature, formal descriptions, and technical meteorology, whereas the verb, meaning to cover with rime, is now rare. For writers seeking a precise or evocative alternative to frost, rime offers a useful distinction without necessarily implying a heavy, opaque layer of ice.
A thin coating of ice formed by freezing water droplets or vapor on a surface; by extension, frost. In poetic or archaic usage, it can also be a variant spelling of rhyme.
"Frostflowers bloomed across the garden's fine rime."
The frost sense is literary or specialized; the spelling variant of rhyme is chiefly poetic and archaic.
To cover or become covered with rime.
"The windows had rimed over during the freezing night."
Rare and more characteristic of literary or older usage than of ordinary modern English.
The plural is grammatical but uncommon; it is most natural when referring to separate formations of icy coating.
"Thin rimes formed along the fence and the grass."
Rime is rhyme's frostier cousin: in most accents they sound identical, but one belongs to the weather and the other to verse.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does rime come from?
The frost sense of rime comes from Old English rīm, meaning frost or ice, and is inherited from Proto-Germanic. It is cognate with Icelandic rím, Norwegian and Swedish rim, and German Reif, all referring to frost or icy conditions. The separate use of rime as a poetic spelling of rhyme reflects the older literary spelling traditions of that word.
Related word forms
How rime is actually used
Rime is literary or archaic when used for frost and is also a technical term in meteorology for ice formed from supercooled water droplets. Its use as a verb is rare. As a variant spelling of rhyme, it is chiefly poetic or archaic.
Easily confused with rime
Rime can mean frost or a poetic variant spelling of rhyme, while rhyme primarily refers to words with corresponding sounds, especially in poetry or verse.