Ryme

Part of speech: noun, verb

Definitions

1. Identical or similar final sounds in words, especially at the ends of lines of verse ; to end with the same sound as another word or line
2. The matching of closing sounds between words in poetry or song ; to agree in sound at the close of words or lines
3. A correspondence of ending sounds between lines or words in verse ; to be composed with matching endings so that the sounds agree

Etymology: The spelling "ryme" is simply an older form of "rhyme," and its history is a tangle: scholars have not settled whether the word comes from Greek or from a Germanic word for "number." The Greek candidate is "rhythmus," meaning measured motion or rhythm, which would link verse sound to the beat of movement. The Germanic candidate, "rīm," meant something like "number" or "series," and its relatives across northern Europe gave us words for counting and calendars, an unexpected link between poetry and arithmetic. The word reached English from Anglo-Norman and Old French "rime," which in turn had given rise to the verb "rimen" (to write verse, or to fit words into verse). Middle English used "rim," "rime," and "ryme" for the same thing, and the spelling with "h" was added later, probably under the influence of the Greek "rhythmus," which is why the "h" now looks like it belongs in the word.