A rhyme is the association of words with similar sounds, a technique most often used in poetry. (Indeed, "a rhyme" is sometimes used to refer to a rhyming couplet or short verse; see nursery rhyme.) While most commonly referring to the sounds of words as spoken, the term has also been applied (as "sight rhyme") to written words which appear alike.
Categories of rhyme include:
- masculine: stress on final syllable of word. Eg "rhyme", "sublime", "crime"
- feminine: stress on penultimate syllable of word. Eg "wiki", "tricky", "sticky"
- triple: all three of a three-syllable word stressed equally
- perfect: identical in sound
- oblique (or slant): imperfect match in sound
- consonance: consonant match. For example: trip, trick
- assonance: vowel match. For example: shake, bake
- sight (or eye): similarity in spelling although not sound. Eg "cough", "bough"
see also poetry
