Etymologically
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rim

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 17 October 2026 at 16:23. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɹɪm/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English rime, inherited from Old English rima (“edge, border, coast”),[2][3][4] found mainly in compounds such as sǣrima (“seashore”) and dæġrima (“dawn”);[2][3][4] it is related to Old Frisian rim (“edge”) and Old Norse rimi (“raised strip of land, ridge”), with no other known cognates.[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

An edge or border: 897, in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, in Barnhart.[2]

Semantic evolution

The outer ring of a wheel is from about 1400,[3][2][5] and the general sense, a border of anything, typically a raised circular edge, by about 1600.[3][5] The rim of a pair of spectacles is from 1865.[5] The verb, to fit with a rim, is from 1794 (1621 in Merriam-Webster);[3][6] the sexual slang senses are from the 1920s.[3][7]

Timeline

  • 897 – rima, edge.[2]
  • probably before 1200 – rieme, edge.[2]
  • c. 1400 – the rim of a wheel.[3][5]
  • c. 1600 – any raised edge.[3]
  • 1794 – to rim (verb).[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The outer edge of something, especially something round, such as a cup or crater.
  2. The outer part of a wheel, to which the tyre is fitted.
  3. (basketball) The hoop from which the net hangs.

Verb

  1. To form or put a rim around.
  2. Of a ball, to roll around the rim of a basket or hole without dropping in.

Word family

  • rimless
  • rimfire
  • rimland
  • rimmer
  • rimrock
  • rimstone
  • Pacific Rim
  • rim lock

Usage notes

In Orkney a rim was a rocky bottom in the sea, a favourite fishing ground.[8]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  8. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)