▪ I. rime, n.1
(raɪm)
Forms: 3 rim, 3–5 (7) rym, 3–7, 9 ryme, 6 risme, 3– rime.
[a. OF. rime fem., for earlier *ridme, *ritme (with final inorganic -e after the two consonants, as in abîme, abisme, *abismum), ad. L. rithmus, rythmus, more correctly rhythmus, a. Gr. ῥυθµός measured motion, time, proportion, etc.: see rhythm.
In med.L. the terms rithmi and rithmici versus were used to denote accentual in contrast to quantitative verse (metra). As similarity of the terminal sounds was a common feature of accentual verse, rithmus naturally came to have the sense of ‘rime’.
The OF. form rime was the source of Prov., Catal., Sp., Pg., and It. rima. OProv. and OCatal. had, however, the independent form rim, masc. The change of gender in F. is due to analogy with feminines in -e, a cause which has operated in many other words.
From OF. the word also spread into all the Teutonic languages, usually appearing as a monosyllable, perhaps partly through association with the native rīm rime n.3 Hence MDu. rime fem., rijm masc. and fem. (Du. rijm neut.), MFris. rime, rijme (mod.Fris. rym), MLG. rîm, rŷm, MHG. rîm masc. (G. reim), ON. and Icel. r{iacu}m neut. (Norw., Sw., Da. rim). In Icel. r{iacu}ma fem., ‘riming poem, ballad’, appears in the 14th cent.
Down to c 1560 the original spelling rime (ryme) continued to prevail in English. About that date the tendency to alter orthography on classical models led to the new spellings rithme, rythme, rhythm(e, which continued to be current till about the close of the 17th cent. (see rhythm n. I). Soon after 1600, probably from a desire to distinguish between ‘rime’ and ‘rhythm’, the intermediate forms rhime, rhyme came into use, and the latter finally established itself as the standard form (see rhyme n.). The original rime, however, has never been quite discontinued, and in about 1870 its use was considerably revived, esp. by writers upon the history of the English language or literature. To some extent this revival was due to the belief that the word was of native origin, and represented OE. r{iacu}m rime n.3]
1. a. Metre, measure (obs.); agreement in the terminal sounds of line or words. Cf. rhyme n. 3.
| c 1200 Ormin Ded. 44 Icc hafe sett her..maniȝ word Þe rime swa to fillenn. Ibid. 101 Himm bidde icc þatt het write rihht,.. Wiþþ all swillc rime alls her iss sett. a 1300 Cursor M. 14922 Es resun þat wee vr rime rume, And set fra nu langer bastune. c 1386 Chaucer Pars. T. Prol. 44, I kan nat geeste—Rum, Ram, Ruf—by lettre, Ne, god woot, rym holde I but litel bettre. c 1392 ― Compl. Venus 80 To me hit ys a grete penaunce, Syth ryme in englissh hat such skarsete, To folowe worde by worde the curiosite. 1553 T. Wilson Rhet. (1562) 85 There was not a dosen sentences, in his whole Sermon, but thei ended all in rime, for the moste part. 1581 Sidney Apol. Poetrie (Arb.) 71 Euen the very ryme it selfe, the Italian cannot put in the last silable, by the French named the Masculine ryme, but still in the next to the last, which the French call the Female; or the next before that. 1668 Dryden Dram. Poesy Ess. (Ker) I. 35 Who first taught us..to make our rime so properly a part of the verse, that it should never mislead the sense. 1672 Marvell Reh. Transp. i. 87 They wanted nothing but rime to be right Tom Triplet. 1774 Mitford Ess. Harmony Lang. 157 The Anglosaxon poets..generally used measures without rime. 1775 T. Tyrwhitt Lang. & Versificat. Chaucer 53 note, We see evident marks of a fondness for Rime in the Hymns of S. Ambrosius and S. Damasus. 1833 S. Austin tr. Characteristics Goethe II. 51 Wieland handled rime like a master. 1868 Thorpe Anal. Anglo-Sax. 152 A Paraphrase of Job, xxi. xxx. Alliterative with final rime. |
b. Coupled with reason: see rhyme n. 3 b.
| c 1460 J. Russell Bk. Nurture 1243 As for ryme or reson, þe forewryter was not to blame. 1530 Tindale Answ. More xvi. Wks. (1573) 285/1 For appose her now of Christ, as Scripture testifieth of hym, and thou shalt finde her cleane without rime or reason. 1548 Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Luke xi. 108 Seeyng there is nether ryme ne reason in saing y{supt} one eiuill spirite driueth out an other eiuil spirite. 1600 Holland Livy xxvii. xxxvii. 656 These songs..would seeme but simple stuffe, and composed without rime or reason. 1607 B. Jonson Volpone Prol., Here is ri'me, not emptie of reason. 1621 Hakewill David's Vow 33 It is both ryme and reason. |
c. An instance of lines or words ending in the same sounds; a word that rimes with another word.
| 1599 Shakes. Much Ado v. ii. 37, I can finde out no rime to Ladie but babie, an innocent rime: for scorne, horne, a hard rime; for schoole foole, a babling rime; verie ominous endings. 1603 Daniel Def. Ryme Wks. (Grosart) IV. 44 Indeed I haue wished there was not that multiplicitie of Rymes as is vsed by many in Sonets. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. i. iii. 10 As a man should run over the Alphabet, to start a rime. 1878 Stevenson Inland Voy. 232 May Apollo send him rimes hitherto undreamed of. 1887 Furnivall in R. Brunne's Chron. (Rolls) II. 587 The couples of rymes are entered alphabetically by the first word of the couple. 1891 T. R. Lounsbury Stud. in Chaucer I. iv. 375 There are tests resting upon the recurrence of assonant rymes. |
2. a. Riming or rimed verse. Cf. rhyme n. 2. Most commonly in the phr. in rime.
| c 1220 Bestiary 695 In boke is ðe turtres lif writen o rime, wu laȝelike ȝe holdeð luue al hire lif time. a 1300 Cursor M. 87 Off suilk an suld ȝe mater take,..Of hir to mak bath rim and sang. c 1369 Chaucer Dethe Blaunche 464 He made of ryme ten verses or twelue. c 1400 Laud Troy Bk. 3261, I ffynde In prose and ryme, Was non so strong In that tyme. a 1450 Knt. de la Tour (1868) 3 And thanne y made this boke. But y wolde not sette it in ryme. 1529 More Dyaloge iii. Wks. 223/1 A foolish raylyng boke against the clergy, and much part made in ryme. 1564 W. Bullein Dial. agst. Pest. (1888) 16 Chaucer satte in a chaire of gold..writyng Prose and Risme. 1581 G. Pettie tr. Guazzo's Civ. Conv. ii. (1586) 66 b, I am of this minde, that the making of rime shoulde not make a Poet use naughtie wordes. c 1600 Shakes. Sonn. cvi, Beautie making beautifull old rime, In praise of Ladies dead, and louely Knights. a 1631 Donne Poems (1650) 11, I thought, if I could draw my paines Through Rimes vexation, I should them allay. 1716 Hearne Collect. (O.H.S.) V. 189 Written in rime in the Country Dialect. 1802 Ritson Metr. Rom. I. p. xviii, There is, even, a Latin song in rime extant in print, which was made upon a great victory obtain'd by king Clothair the second. 1876 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1877) V. 589 Before the end of the twelfth century England had seen an English sermon in regular rime. |
† b. rime doggerel: see doggerel A.
c. rime royal: see rhyme n. 2 c, and rhythm n. 1 b.
| [1871 Skeat Spec. Eng. Lit. III. (1887) 41 ‘The Kingis Quair’ is written in seven-lined stanzas, a favourite measure of Chaucer and his successors, which received the name of the ‘rime roial’.] 1882 Ogilvie, Rime-royal. 1903 H. Bradley in Pol., Rel., & Love Poems 291 Each of the seven stanzas (in ‘rime royal’). |
d. See riding rhyme.
‖ e. rime couée = tailed rime s.v. tailed a. 1 d.
| c 1330 [see couwee a.]. 1775 T. Tyrwhitt Canterbury Tales of Chaucer IV. 72 Though Robert of Brunne in his Prologue professes not to attempt these elegancies of composition, yet he has intermixed several passages in Rime Couwée. 1893 [see tailed a. 1 d]. 1935 Essays & Stud. XX. 97 The rime couée or romance stanza of six lines (double eight and six). 1945 E. K. Chambers Eng. Lit. at Close of Middle Ages i. 25 The metre of the Chester plays..is a Romance metre of the type known as rime couée or tail-rhyme. |
‖ f. rime riche = rich rhyme s.v. rich a. 7 c.
| [1903 H. J. Chaytor Compan. French Verse iv. 23 Rimes are also distinguished as rich and sufficient (riche, suffisante).] 1904 Brandin & Hartog Bk. French Prosody iv. 53 Victor Hugo uses the rime riche more than any of his predecessors. 1930 A. Huxley Vulgarity in Lit. 35 When Laforgue wrote of that ‘roi de Thulé, Immaculé’ his rime riche was entirely above suspicion. 1961 A. Clarke Later Poems 92 With the exception of the sonnet and the little experiment in rime riche, these pieces came to me quite unexpectedly. |
3. A riming poem or piece of riming verse. Cf. rhyme n. 1.
| c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 1 Man og to luuen ðat rimes ren. c 1275 Luue Ron 193 in O.E. Misc. 99 Þis rym, mayde, ich þe sende open and wiþ-vte sel. c 1330 Arth. & Merl. 1341 (Kölbing), So ich ȝou segge in mi rime. c 1386 Chaucer Man of Law's T. Prol. 96, I speke in prose, and lat him rymes make. 1508 Kennedie Flyting w. Dunbar 332 Renounce thy rymis. 1542 Udall Erasm. Apoph. 245 These songes or rymes..were called in Latin Fescennina carmina. 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. i. i. 28 Thou, thou Lysander, thou hast giuen her rimes, And interchang'd loue-tokens with my childe. 1617 Moryson Itin. iii. 99 In the Sea townes of England they sing this English rime; Shoulder of mutton and English Beere, Make the Flemmings tarry here. 1699 Garth Dispens. iv. 46 Up these shelves, much Gothick Lumber climbs, With Swiss Philosophy, and Danish Rimes. 1798 Coleridge in Lyr. Ballads 5 The Rime of the Ancyent Marinere, in seven parts. 1881 Mahaffy Old Greek Educ. ii. 23 There is hardly a word left of the nursery rimes. 1894 J. T. Fowler Adamnan Introd. 40 The famous old Irish rime about St. Patrick. |
† 4. = rhythm n. 4, 5. Obs.
| 1586 W. Webbe Eng. Poetrie (Arb.) 57 Ryme is properly, the iust proportion of a clause or sentence, whether it be in prose or meeter, aptly comprised together. 1677 Gale Crt. Gentiles iv. 99 Plato informes us..the whole life of a virtuose man must be composed..of Symphonie or Concert and musical ryme. |
5. attrib. and Comb., as rime-ending, rime-index, rime-making, rime-word; rime-maker, rime-wright; rime-rotten adj.; rime-letter, the distinctive initial letter in a line of alliterative verse.
| 1591 Fraunce C'tess Pembr. Yvychurch i. ii. iii, Neither Castalian Muses..Nor rymewright singers. 1599 Porter Angry Wom. Abingd. (Percy Soc.) 40 Speake men what they can to him, hee'l answere With some rime rotten sentence or olde saying. 1611 Florio, Rimatore, a Rimer, a Rime-maker. 1865 Skeat in Brock Morte Arth. p. x, Of the strongly-accented syllables, three begin with a common letter, which has been called the rime-letter. 1877 ― The Bruce 628 A complete Rime-index would occupy a considerable space. 1887 Furnivall in R. Brunne's Chron. (Rolls) I. p. xx, After some of the ryme-endings. 1893 Cursor Mundi (E.E.T.S.) 136* note, There are three ryme-words, gnede, brede, shrede. 1935 C. S. Lewis in Lysistrata May 22 Rude rime-making wrongs her beauty, Whose breasts and brow..Bewitch the worlds. |
▪ II. rime, n.2
(raɪm)
Forms: 1 hr{iacu}m, 3–4 rim, 4–5, 7 ryme, 5–6 rym (6 ryim), 7 reeme, 8 reem, 7–9 rhime (9 rhyme), 4– rime.
[OE. hr{iacu}m masc., = Fris. rym, MDu. and Du. rijm, MLG. riim, ON. and Icel. hr{iacu}m (Norw., Sw., and Da. rim). Cf. OF. rime, rimée, which are no doubt of Teut. origin.]
a. Hoar-frost (see note); frozen mist. Also dial. a chill mist or fog.
Rare in ME., except in the comb. rime-frost. From 16th century chiefly Sc. and north., but revived in literary use at the end of the 18th cent. See also rind n.3 In scientific use rime is now distinguished from hoar-frost (q.v.).
| c 725 Corpus Gloss. 1653 Pruina, hrim. a 1000 Phœnix 60 (Gr.), Þær ne hæᵹl ne hrim hreosað to foldan. c 1205 Lay. 28525 Folc vnimete ridinde & ganninde swa þe rim [c 1275 þe ren] falled adune. |
| 1513 Douglas æneis xiii. Prol. 31 Doun fallis the donk rym. 1549 Compl. Scot. (1872) 59 The hayr ryim is ane cald deu, the quhilk fallis in mysty vapours, and syne it fresis on the eird. 1587 L. Mascall Govt. Cattle, Sheepe (1596) 214 Ye ought for to keepe them close, till the day haue taken the gellie or netty rime, from the earth. 1611 Cotgr., Gresil,..reeme, or the white frost that hangs on trees. 1659 A. Hay Diary (S.H.S.) 210 A frost ryme all day. 1701 Grew Cosmol. Sacra i. iii. §33 In a Hoar-Frost, that which we call a Rime, is a Multitude of Quadrangular Prismes, exactly figured, but piled without any Order, one over another. 1789 E. Darwin Bot. Gard. i. (1791) 47 Shake from their candied trunks the tinkling rime. 1820 Shelley Witch Atl. xliv, Moonlight splendour of intensest rime, With which frost paints the pines in winter time. 1864 C. Geikie Life in Woods vii. (1874) 133 As to the windows, the rime on them never thought of melting. 1895 [see hoar-frost]. 1912 W. de la Mare Listeners 23 At midnight 'neath a maze of stars I flame with glittering rime. 1921 A. E. M. Geddes Meteorol. vi. 182 Hoar frost must not be confused with rime, which is an accumulation of frozen moisture on trees, &c., and is formed only during fog. 1947 Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. LI. 274/1 With a smaller rate of catch of water, at a lower temperature of the air, the water will freeze in the area of catch producing ice which has a porous structure, and a mat surface. This type is known as rime ice. 1978 Sci. Amer. Apr. 144/3 When the saturation is higher than 140 percent, the growth of crystals is so rapid that rime (an amorphous deposit of frozen droplets) grows on the crystals and destroys their optical faces. |
| pl. 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. iii. (1586) 141 The Sunne hath drawne vppe the Rimes and hoare frostes from the Feeldes. 1641 Best Farm. Bks. (Surtees) 77 If there came any white rymes, or frosty morninges. 1766 Complete Farmer s.v. Threshing 7 K 4/2 In that time the mists and rimes, especially in a hilly country, will be driven into the stack. |
| Comb. 1875 Wonders Phys. World i. iv. 128 The firs shake their rime-loaded boughs. 1891 Kipling Barrack-Room Ballads (1892) 204 It's North you may run to the rime-ringed sun. 1898 Merriman Roden's Corner v, The dull houses were rime-covered. 1910 W. de la Mare Three Mulla-Mulgars iii. 46 The rime⁓laden branches of the trees. |
b. transf. and fig.
| 1618 M. Baret Horsemanship Ded. 4 This..Art of Horsemanship.., which hath beene so long frost-bitten with the congealing ryme of antient traditions. a 1688 Narborough Voy. i. (1694) 29 The Ground and Rocks have a white Rhime of Salt-petre hanging on them. 1839 Longfellow Voices of Nt., Prelude vi, Tales that have the rime of age. |
▪ III. † rime, n.3 Obs.
[OE. r{iacu}m, = OS. -rîm (in unrîm numberless host), OHG. rîm number, ON. r{iacu}m computation.]
Number; reckoning.
| c 825 Vesp. Psalter xxxviii. 5 Cuð me doa..rim dæᵹa minra. Ibid. xxxix. 6 Ᵹemoniᵹfaldade sind ofer rim. a 900 Cynewulf Crist 1586 Þæt he ne forleose..his daᵹena rim. c 973 O.E. Chron. (Parker MS.) an. 973, Tyn hund wintra, ᵹeteled rimes. c 1200 Ormin 11248 Þatt full wel iss bitacnedd Þurrh tale & rime off fowwerrtiȝ. |
▪ IV. † rime, n.4 Obs.
[ad. L. rīma: see rima.]
A chap, chink, or cleft.
| 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 64 The sewet of oxen..is also good against..the ulcers and rimes of the mouth. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. 198 Though birds have no Epiglottis, yet can they so contract the rime or chink of their Larinx [etc.]. 1657 Tomlinson Renou's Disp. 378 They have a small depressure on one side like a rime. |
▪ V. rime
obs. form of rim n.1, n.2
▪ VI. rime, v.1
(raɪm)
Forms: 4–7, 9 ryme (5 rymyn), 4, 6– rime.
[ad. OF. rimer, f. rime rime n.1; cf. Prov., Sp., Pg. rimar, It. rimare.
The verb was also adopted in the other Teutonic languages, appearing as MDu. rīmen (Du. rijmen, Fris. rime, rymje), MLG. rîmen, rymen, MHG. rîmen (G. reimen), Icel. r{iacu}ma, MSw. rima (Sw. rimma), MDa. rime, riime (Da. rime).
In the 17th cent. the usual spelling became rhyme: cf. the note to rime n.1]
1. intr. To make rimes or verses; to compose riming verse; to versify on, upon. Cf. rhyme v. 1.
| c 1290 Magdalena 5 in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1878) 148 Ich nelle eov noþer rede ne rime of kyng ne of eorl. c 1374 Chaucer Troylus i. 532, I shall japid ben a thousande tyme More than he of whos foly men ryme. c 1393 ― Scogan 35 Lo olde grisil leste to ryme & pleye! c 1440 Promp. Parv. 434/1 Rymyn, rithmico. 1483 Cath. Angl. 308/2 To Ryme, rithmicare. 1508 Dunbar Flyting 23 Ȝit mycht thay be sa bald, in thair bakbytting, To gar me ryme. 1588 Babington Prof. Exp. Lord's Pr. (1596) 236 Some be rimed on by dronken tossepots, and so was Dauid. 1601 Shakes. Jul. C. iv. iii. 133 How vildely doth this Cynicke rime! 1611 ― Cymb. v. iii. 55 Will you Rime vpon't, And vent it for a Mock'rie? |
2. a. trans. To recount or celebrate in verse or rime; to turn into, or compose in, riming verse.
| c 1315 Shoreham iv. 73 Þer-fore þys tale rymeþ Hou men in senne beþ. 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace Prol. (Rolls) 63 For Mayster Wace þe Latyn alle rymes, þat Pers ouer⁓hippis many tymes. c 1393 Chaucer Scogan 41 Al schal passyn þat men prose or ryme. 1424 Paston Lett. I. 13 Manaces of deth and dismembryng maden and puttyn by certeyns Englische billes rymed in partye. 1448–9 J. Metham Wks. (E.E.T.S.) 80 My mastyr Chauncerys..With many prouerbys hys bokys..rymyd naturally. 1542–3 Act 34–35 Hen. VIII, c. 1 If ani..person..play in enterludes, sing or rime, any matter contrarie to the saide doctrine. a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VIII. 262 The worde of God is disputed, rimed, song and iangeled in euery Alehouse and Tauerne. 1887 Q. Rev. CLXIV. 389 He rimed history, ballads and legends. |
† b. To brave (a matter) out in riming terms.
| 1532 More Confut. Tindale Wks. 496/1 Tindall rymeth it out, & saith y{supt} he both denieth and also defieth, that the apostles taught any ceremony wherof the reason could not be knowen. |
c. To cause (a word) to rime with (another); to use as a rime. Cf. rhyme v. 6.
| 1887 Furnivall in R. Brunne's Chron. (Rolls) II. 587 Robert Mannyng..wrote poraille as porayl, and rymed it with sayl or sail. |
3. To bring by riming. Cf. rhyme v. 2.
| 1584 R. Scot Discov. Witchcr. iii. xv. 64 They will not sticke to affirme, that they can rime either man or beast to death. 1599 Shakes. Hen. V, v. ii. 164 These fellowes of infinit tongue, that can ryme themselues into Ladyes fauours. 1626 Donne Serm. 37 And rymed themselves beyond Reason into Absurdities and Heresies. 1633 G. Herbert Temple, Ch. Porch i, Hearken unto a Verser, who may chance Ryme thee to good, and make a bait of pleasure. 1915 Encycl. Relig. & Ethics VIII. 258/1 ‘Riming people to death—a practice used by the filid as well as by the druids—was connected with the power of the spoken word. 1969 J. Wainwright Big Tickle 166 He'll rime you—you lousy git—he'll rime you to ribbons. |
4. a. intr. To form a rime. Also fig., to agree. Cf. rhyme v. 4.
| c 1450 Cov. Myst. (1841) 242 Two smale legges and a gret body, thow it ryme nowth. 1530 Palsgr. 691/2 That same may ryme well, but it agreeth nat. 1546 Heywood Prov. E ij b, To disdeygne me,..it may ryme but it accordth not. |
b. To have similar or riming endings.
| 1660 N. Ingelo Bentiv. & Ur. i. (1682) 149 Words and sounds which make Verses ryme. 1669 S. Simmons Milton's P.L. To Rdr., A reason of that which stumbled many others, why the Poem Rimes not. |
5. To use rime. Cf. rhyme v. 5.
| 1602 Shakes. Ham. iii. ii. 296 You might haue Rim'd. 1675 E. Phillips Theatrum Poet. Pref. **4 The Dissyllable, which in that Language is the only way of Riming. 1692 Dennis Pass. Byblis Pref. C, My Lord Roscommon who writ in blank Verse with so much success, yet was nicely exact in Riming, whenever he pretended to rime. |
▪ VII. rime, v.2
(raɪm)
[f. rime n.2 Cf. Fris. rime, MDu. rīmen (Du. rijmen), Icel. hr{iacu}ma, Sw. rimma.]
trans. To cover with rime or hoar-frost. In scientific use now restricted to mean: to cover with rime as opp. to hoar-frost (q.v.). Also intr., to become rimed.
| 1755 Johnson, Rime, to freeze with hoar frost. 1831 Howitt Seasons (1837) 291 The first frost that rimes the hedges. 1836 Emerson Nature iii. Wks. (Bohn) II. 146 Every withered stem and stubble rimed with frost, contribute something to the mute music. 1907 N. Munro Daft Days xxxii. 266 Oh, London, London!.. The multitudinous monuments rimed by years. 1966 Jrnl. Faculty Sci. Hokkaidô Univ. 7th Ser. II. 331 In Japan, most of snow crystals are more or less rimed. Therefore the grade of riming is very important. 1973 Sci. Amer. Jan. 105/1 When a crystal rimes, material is added mostly on its underside, thus increasing its weight without greatly increasing its air resistance. Ibid., The more a crystal is rimed, the faster it rimes. 1978 Nature 24 Aug. 791/2 (caption) Ice fragments collected downwind of an ice-coated sphere riming at -7°C. |
Hence ˈriming ppl. a. and vbl. n.2
| c 1820 Hogg To Sir W. Scott, Time has shed His riming honours o'er each brow. 1966 [see above]. 1969 Jrnl. Atmospheric Sci. XXVI. 138/1 This apparent multiplication of ice crystals may be associated with the process of riming of the crystals. 1973 Sci. Amer. Jan. 105/1 When a snow crystal evolves within a cloud of supercooled water drops, it can grow not only by stealing vapor from around the drops but also by actually colliding with individual drops. The process is called riming, and it is an important complication in all types of snowflakes and snow crystals. 1978 Nature 24 Aug. 791/1 (heading) A possible mechanism of ice splinter production during riming. |
▪ VIII. † rime, v.3 Obs.
Also 6 ryme.
[OE. r{iacu}man, f. r{iacu}m rime n.3 Cf. arime v.]
trans. To count, number, reckon, recount.
| c 825 Vesp. Psalter cxlvi. 4 Se rimeð menᵹu steorrena. c 893 K. ælfred Oros. iv. i. 156 Hit næs þeaw on þæm tidum þæt mon æniᵹ wæl on þa healfe rimde þe þonne wieldre wæs. c 1000 Ags. Ps. (Thorpe) cxxxviii. 16 Ᵹif ic hi recene nu riman onginne, hi beoð ofer sand corn sniome maniᵹe. c 1200 Ormin 11213 Swa þatt Jechonias iss An mann & twiȝess rimedd. Ibid. 11217 He biginneþþ Cristess kinn To reccnenn & to rimenn Att Abraham. c 1375 Cursor M. 14527 (Fairf.), Cayphas saide in þat time wordes many we may noȝt rime. c 1400 Sowdone Bab. 339 Myghte he ryme Of x thousande men lefte no moo But sexty men and twelfe. c 1470 Gol. & Gaw. 403 He is the riallest roy..Of all the rentaris to ryme or rekin on raw. |
▪ IX. rime, v.4 Now dial. or techn.
Forms: 1 r{yacu}man (r{iacu}man), 2–3 rimen, 3 rumen, 4–5 ryme, 6, 9 dial. rime, 9 dial. rym, rim. See also ream v.3 and reem v.2
[Common Teut.: OE. r{yacu}man, = OFris. rēma, MDu. rūmen, ruymen (Du. ruimen), OS. rûmian, OHG. rûmen (G. räumen), ON. and Icel. r{yacu}ma (Norw. ryma, r{obar}ma, Sw. rymma, Da. r{obar}mme):—*rūmjan, f. rūm room n.1]
1. trans. † a. To make clear or vacant for one; to vacate, give up. Obs.
| Beowulf 492 Þa wæs Ᵹeatmæcᵹum..on beorsele benc ᵹe⁓rymed. a 1000 Boeth. Metr. i. 19 Beadurincum wæs Rom ᵹerymed. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Luke xiv. 9 Rym þysum men setl. c 1205 Lay. 4709 Þis feoreword ich him halde, bute he..mi londe rume. |
† b. To clear or open up (a way) for one. Obs.
| a 1000 Andreas 1580 (Gr.), Him ᵹearu sona þurh stream⁓ræce stræt wæs ᵹerymed. a 1023 Wulfstan Hom. (1883) 55 Þæt syndan..Antecristes þrælas, þe his weᵹ rymað. a 1200 Cott. Hom. 231 He haueð ȝerimed rihtwisan mannan infer to his rice. c 1205 Lay. 28323 Walwain bi-foren wende and þene wæi rumde. |
† c. To clear for oneself; to take. Obs.
| c 1205 Lay. 3554 Ich..hat [h]ine fare swiþe..and rumen him herberia i summe riche burie. Ibid. 5228 Þa hauede heo muche riche irumed to honde. |
d. dial. To remove, clear away.
| 1854 A. E. Baker Northampt. Gloss. s.v., Rym the chair out of the way. |
2. intr. † a. To withdraw, depart, retire. Obs.
| c 1000 ælfric Gram. xxviii. (Z.) 171 Ic fare aweᵹ oððe ic ryme. a 1122 O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 999, A man rymde fram þære sæ & hi ferdon æfre forð æfter. a 1250 Prov. ælfred 170 in O.E. Misc. 113 Wot no mon þe time wanne he sal henne rimen. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 9868 Frendes..Conseilled hym..gyue no bataille..Bot let his folk sprede & ryme. 1338 ― Chron. (1810) 71 Þe rouht of þare rascaile he did it rere & ryme. c 1450 Bk. Curtasye 507 in Babees Bk., Then ȝomon of chambur shynne voyde with [? read and] ryme. |
b. dial. To move house; to remove.
| 1847 Halliw., Rim, to remove. 1876 S. Warwick Gloss., Rimming, moving furniture to a fresh house. ‘We be a rimming on Monday.’ |
3. trans. † a. To extend, increase, enlarge. Obs.
| c 897 K. ælfred Gregory's Past. C. xliv. 329 Ðæt se ᵹitsere..his land mid unryhte ryme. c 1000 ælfric Hom. II. 104 Ic wille ryman minne bertun, and mine bernu ᵹeeacnian. |
† b. refl. To stretch (oneself). Obs.
| 13.. Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 308 He coȝed ful hyȝe, Ande rimed hym ful richely, & ryȝt hym to speke. a 1400–50 Alexander 4931 Þe renke within þe redell þan raxsils his armes, Rymed him full renyschly & rekind þir wordis. |
c. To widen out (a hole). Cf. ream v.3 1.
| 1815 [implied in rimer n.2]. 1875 Sir T. Saxton Fret-Cutting 69 The holes in the hinges ought to be properly rymed out, so as to be quite large enough to admit the screws. |
▪ X. rime, v.5 rare—1.
(raɪm)
[ad. L. rīmārī, f. rīma rima.]
intr. To pry into.
| 1877 Blackmore Erema xliv, Our act was, with finger, and nail, and eye, to rime into every jot of it. |
▪ XI. rime, v.6
(raɪm)
[f. Ir. ruaim alder-tree; whence ruamadh, ruamughadh ‘to give the first tinge in dying red or black’ (Dinneen).]
trans. To steep or boil (wool or yarn) in water with alder-twigs. Hence rimed ppl. a., ˈriming vbl. n.
| 1873 E. O'Curry Lect. Ancient Irish I. 405 When the rimed yarn or cloth was boiled with a black peaty mud..it was dyed of a black colour. Ibid., In the south of Ireland the riming operation was performed..by boiling the yarn..with Rumex acetosa. Ibid. III. 119 After the wool is ‘rimed’. |