rhyme
rhyme
Old French
“Surprisingly, rhyme began as a word for counting, not poetry.”
The earliest source is Latin rithmus, borrowed from Greek rhuthmós for "measured flow." In late Latin, rithmus shifted toward patterns of verse. It described rhythm and then the matching of sounds. The focus moved from measure to sound echo.
Old French reshaped the term as rime, used for end-sound matching in poetry. English borrowed rime in the Middle Ages. A later spelling rhyme appeared in the sixteenth century. That new spelling was influenced by Latin rhythm.
Writers in the 1500s used both rime and rhyme. The rhyme spelling won out in Standard English. It tied the word to classical learning without changing its sound. The form rime remains in some technical and dialect uses.
Modern English rhyme names the repeating end sound in verse. It also appears as a verb for making such matches. The word keeps its medieval poetic core. Its spelling carries the Renaissance impulse for classical association.
Related Words
Today
Rhyme is the repetition of similar ending sounds in words, especially in poetry. It is also the verb for making those sound matches.
The modern sense stays close to medieval poetic practice. The spelling adds a classical nod, not a new meaning. "Sound meets sound."
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