rhyme

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɹaɪm/^[1]

Etymology

It is a 16th-century respelling of inherited from Middle English rime (“measure, meter; rhymed verse”),^[2][3][4] borrowed from Old French rime.^{[5][2][3][6][4]} The origin of the Old French word is disputed: it is often traced to Latin rhythmus, from Ancient Greek ῥυθμός (rhythmós, “measured flow, rhythm”),^[3][1] while Barnhart, Random House and the AHD derive it from a Germanic source related to Old High German rīm (“number, series”) and Old English rīm (“number”).^[2][4][5] The spelling with rh- was introduced around 1600 under the influence of rhythm.^[5][2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Middle English rime meant measure or rhythm (c. 1200), and later rhymed verse (before 1250).^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

In Medieval Latin rithmus was used of accentual verse, as opposed to verse based on syllable length, and since accentual verse was usually rhymed the word came to mean the agreement of end sounds.^[3][4] The respelled rhyme is recorded from 1610 for a piece of rhymed verse,^[7][2][3] from 1656 for a word that rhymes with another,^[7][3] and from 1663 for the agreement of sounds itself.^[7] The old spelling rime survived alongside it,^[6][4] perhaps helped by the unrelated Old English rīm “number”.^[3] The phrase rhyme or reason dates from the late 15th century.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1200 – Middle English rime, measure, meter, rhythm.^[2][3]
• mid-13th century – rhymed verse.^[2][3]
• c. 1300 – Middle English verb rimen.^[2][3]
• late 15th century – rhyme or reason.^[3]
• 1610 – the spelling rhyme; a piece of rhymed verse.^[2][7][3]
• 1656 – a word that rhymes with another.^[7][3]
• 1663 – agreement of the end sounds of words or lines.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. Correspondence of the end sounds of words or of lines of verse.
2. A word that agrees with another in its end sound, as find and mind.
3. A poem or verse whose lines rhyme; also, rhyming verse or poetry in general.

Verb

1. To form a rhyme; of words or lines, to end in sounds that correspond.
2. To compose rhymes or rhyming verse.
3. To put into rhyme, or to use a word as a rhyme.

Word family

• rhymeless
• rhymer
• rhymester

Related words

• rhythm
• rime
• nursery rhyme

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
6. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press