What does riming mean?
Riming names the growth of rime, a rough or clear coating of ice formed when supercooled water droplets freeze on contact with a surface. The word is especially familiar in meteorology and aviation, where ice accumulation on aircraft, roads, power lines, and other exposed structures can create serious hazards. In ordinary descriptions of cold weather, it conveys the visible transformation of surfaces into pale, glittering layers of frost. As a verb form, riming describes either the act of becoming coated with rime or the condition of being covered by it. The term is related to the noun rime but is readily confused with rhyming, which has the same pronunciation but an entirely different meaning involving poetry and the correspondence of word sounds. Riming is therefore a precise term when frozen moisture, ice accretion, or frost formation is the central idea.
The process or result of forming a coating of rime, especially frost or ice produced by freezing supercooled droplets.
"The pilot reported heavy riming on the wings."
Common in technical and meteorological contexts.
The present participle of rime: to cover or become covered with rime.
"Freezing rain was riming the branches with clear ice."
Usually used in descriptions of frost, ice accretion, or severe cold.
Riming turns freezing droplets into a delicate, hard coating of ice—meteorologists call it one of nature's sharpest-looking hazards.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does riming come from?
The frost sense of riming comes through rime, a word recorded in Old English for frost or ice and probably inherited from a Germanic ancestor. It has relatives in other Germanic languages, including German Reif and Old Norse rím. The separate verb meaning in verse, often written rime, comes through Old French and ultimately Latin; it is not the same historical source as the frost sense of rime.
Related word forms
How riming is actually used
Riming is most common in meteorology, aviation, and descriptions of cold conditions. It should not be confused with rhyming, which concerns matching sounds in words.
Easily confused with riming
Riming usually refers to the formation of frost or ice, whereas rhyming refers to the matching of sounds in verse.