Etymograph

English

rim

Rim comes from Old English rima ‘rim, edge, border, bank, coast’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *rimô.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*rimôreconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*rimōreconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150rima‘rim, edge, border, bank, coast’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500rim
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1953same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Earlier history uncertain.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*rimôreconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*rimōreconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150rima‘rim, edge, border, bank, coast’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500rim
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1953same form

Earliest quotation: 1953, Editor & Publisher 1953-09-26: Vol 86 Is: “COPY READER — Journeyman, experienced makeup, now slot man…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *rem-

rand

through Middle English rim

rhyme, rime

Another origin of rim

  1. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*reumō‘strap, belt’reconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150rēoma‘membrane, ligament’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500rim
  4. Englishtodaysame form

Today it means

noun An edge around something, especially when circular.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *rimô / rim

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