Rim

How to spell rim

3 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce rim

What does rim mean?

1. nounThe outer edge or border of something, especially a round or hollow object.
2. verbTo form or run along the edge or border of something.

Rim in a sentence

• noun

  A chip on the rim of the mug caught her lip.

• verb

  Frost can rim the windows on a cold morning.

• noun

  He wiped the dust off the rim of the bicycle wheel.

• verb

  Tall pines rim the lake on every side.

Where does rim come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word comes from the Old English rima, which meant an edge, a border, or a coast. It is a native Germanic word and shows up in early compounds such as saerima, literally the edge of the sea, meaning the shore. Over the centuries the broad sense of any border narrowed mainly to the raised outer edge of a circular or hollow object, such as a cup, a wheel, or a basketball hoop. The word stayed short and phonetically simple, so its spelling has never drifted; what you hear is exactly what you write. Related edge words came into English from other sources, but rim itself is one of the older homegrown survivors.

How the word is built

• rim (whole word, from Old English rima: edge, border)