Rime
/riːm/noun
A coating of ice crystals formed from supercooled fog or cloud droplets, or a frost-like deposit.
Did you know?The word is historically distinct from the poetic spelling of "rhyme" and comes from an old Germanic word for frost or hoarfrost, not from anything to do with poetry.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*hrīmą
“frost, rime, hoarfrost”
Old English
OE
hrīm
“frost, rime, hoarfrost”
Middle English
ME
rime
“hoarfrost; icy deposit”
Modern English
English
rime
“a deposit of ice crystals formed on objects exposed to freezing fog”