Make Your Point > Archived Issues > RIMY
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Let's enjoy some rimy rhymes from Samuel Coleridge's "Rime of the Ancient Mariner:"
And now there came both mist and snow,
And it grew wondrous cold:
And ice, mast-high, came floating by,
As green as emerald.
And through the drifts the snowy clifts
Did send a dismal sheen:
Nor shapes of men nor beasts we ken—
The ice was all between.
The ice was here, the ice was there,
The ice was all around:
It cracked and growled, and roared and howled,
Like noises in a swound!
That's an icy scene, y'all. Thoroughly icy. With extra ice. I think Coleridge made that pretty clear. It's a chilly, rimy, icy scene.
Rimy is a poetic word; it comes from Old English, and it means "frosty."
Even if you're just now encountering the word rimy, you can tell that it means "full of rime," that is, "full of frost," and if you roll the word "rime" around in your brain, it'll probably settle on that poem's title: "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner."
You remember that one, probably from high school. The one about the cursed old sailor and the albatross and everything.
Okay, so if rime is frost, does the title of the poem mean "The Frost of the Ancient Mariner"? Only figuratively! On the surface, "rime" in that title is just an old-fashioned way of spelling "rhyme." So the title means "The Rhyme (Poem) of the Ancient Mariner." But titles are sly. They hide extra meanings. I bet this one also means "The Bitter Coldness and Old Age of the Ancient Mariner." Because as we'll see below, the word rime connotes not just frost but also old age and the passing of time.
Much like how the poetic word s__e connotes death, old age, autumn, and the color yellow, even though it just means "dry."
(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)
make your point with...
"RIMY"
Strictly speaking, rime is frost or frozen mist. Loosely speaking, rime is any thin coating that reminds you of frost. And figuratively speaking, rime is the "frost" or "coating" of old age, antiquity, or the passing of time.
In formal texts, especially in fiction and poetry, we find "rime" in hyphenated terms like "rime-cold," "rime-white," "rime-covered," "rime-laden," and the somewhat redundant "rime-frosted."
So, something rimy is frosty, coated in frost, or coated in something that reminds you of frost, often in a poetic way that suggests old age, antiquity, or the passing of time.
Pronunciation:
RYE me
(It rhymes with "grimy" and "slimy" but is so much lovelier.)
Part of speech:
Adjective: "a rimy morning," "the rimy fields."
Other forms:
The noun is "rime."
An alternate adjective is "rimed."
How to use it:
Use this rare, beautiful word when you need to be formal and poetic, especially when you need to evoke agedness, antiquity, or timelessness.
Talk about rimy grass, leaves, plants, fields, trees, porches, railings, window panes, buildings, etc.
Or, call something a rimy white, gray, blue, etc.
Or, talk about rimy days, mornings, nights, weeks, winters, etc.
Or, a rimy scene, tone, mood, atmosphere, etc.
Or, at the risk of being redundant, a rimy chill, frost, freeze, etc.
You can also say that something is rimy (or rimed) with something else: "a margarita glass, its rim rimy with salt;" "ancient names rimed with glory."
examples:
"The hands were noteworthy. They were large-knuckled, sinewy and malformed by labour, rimed with callouses, the nails blunt and broken, and with here and there cuts and bruises, healed and healing, such as are common to the hands of hard-working men. On the back were huge, upstanding veins, eloquent of age and toil."
— Jack London, The Strength of the Strong, 1919
"And it was a weird and desolate scene, that winter expanse of sea and land upon which the wanderer's glance was bent... he strode rapidly on through the rimy heather plants and the chill, bracing whiff of the salt sea."
— Bertram Mitford, Dorrien of Cranston, 1903
has this page helped you understand "rimy"?
study it:
Explain the meaning of "rimy" without saying "chilly" or "wintry."
try it out:
Fill in the blanks: "Glimpsing the rimy (white, blue, or gray) _____, I shivered."
Example: "Glimpsing the rimy white gravestones, I shivered."
before you review, play:
Spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—let your working memory empty out first.
Quintessential TV Quotes!
Each day, match the given vocabulary word to the quote that best illustrates it.
From the previous issue:
From Downton Abbey, which quote below illustrates fervency?
Quote A:
Robert: I thought you didn't like him?
Violet: So what? I have plenty of friends I don't like.
Quote B:
Robert: I don't know why you're making such a fuss, Mama. You'd visit Denker if she were locked up.
Violet: Only to check if the locks were sound.
Quote C:
Robert: I've given my life to Downton. I was born here, and I hope to die here. I claim no career beyond the nurture of this house and the estate. It is my third parent, and my fourth child. Do I care about it? Yes, I do care!
Answer: In quote C, Robert demonstrates a fervent devotion to Downton.
Try this one today:
From Futurama, which quote below illustrates jadedness?
Quote A:
Bender: You may have to metaphorically make a deal with the devil. And by "devil," I mean Robot Devil. And by "metaphorically," I mean get your coat.
Quote B:
Leela: As unclean as it makes me feel, I agree with Bender. Kids don't turn rotten just because of what they see on TV.
Fry: Yeah. Give a little credit to our public schools.
Quote C:
Professor Farnsworth: Remember, we need to show these people that we are not bitter husks of human beings who long ago abandoned hope of finding love in this lifetime. Leela, you'll have to do some acting.
Leela: Check.
review this word:
1. A near opposite of RIMY is
A. JAGGED.
B. FALTERING.
C. SWELTERING.
2. The rimy world glistens from our windows, all _____.
A. city dirt and noise
B. brightness and icicles
C. mugginess and palm fronds
a final word:
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Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.
Let's enjoy some rimy rhymes from Samuel Coleridge's "Rime of the Ancient Mariner:"
"RIMY" Strictly speaking, rime is frost or frozen mist. Loosely speaking, rime is any thin coating that reminds you of frost. And figuratively speaking, rime is the "frost" or "coating" of old age, antiquity, or the passing of time.
"The hands were noteworthy. They were large-knuckled, sinewy and malformed by labour, rimed with callouses, the nails blunt and broken, and with here and there cuts and bruises, healed and healing, such as are common to the hands of hard-working men. On the back were huge, upstanding veins, eloquent of age and toil."
Explain the meaning of "rimy" without saying "chilly" or "wintry."
Fill in the blanks: "Glimpsing the rimy (white, blue, or gray) _____, I shivered."
Spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—let your working memory empty out first.
1. A near opposite of RIMY is
|