Origin: before 1150; Middle English; Old English -rima (in compounds); cognate with Old Norse rimi raised strip of land, ridge
Related forms
rim·less, adjective
Synonyms 1. lip, verge. Rim,brim refer to the boundary of a circular or curved area. A rim is a line or surface bounding such an area; an edge or border: the rim of a glass. Brim usually means the inside of the rim, at the top of a hollow object (except of a hat), and is used particularly when the object contains something: The cup was filled to the brim.
O.E. rima "edge, border," as in særima "seashore," lit. "rim of the sea," and dægrima "dawn," lit. "rim of the day." Related to O.N. rime, rimi "a raised strip of land, ridge." No known cognates in other languages. The snare drummer's rim shot is recorded from 1934.