Rime dictionary

A rhyme (or rime) dictionary (or book), which is called yùnshū (韻書) in Chinese, is a type of Chinese dictionary that was used in ancient times. Rhyme dictionaries are called thus because they contained rhyme tables (or rime tables), which were tables listing characters by their phonological properties.

These books differed from mere rhyme tables, however, in that they also functioned as dictionaries, and gave other information about the character itself.

In this context, the spelling "rime" is often used instead of the more common "rhyme" in order to make a distinction between the "rime" in the sense of the rhyming portion of a syllable on one hand, and the concept of poetic rhyme on the other.

See also:

• Qieyun (切韻)
• Guangyun (廣韻)
• Jiyun (集韻)
• Middle Chinese
• Rime table (韻圖)
• Kangxi Dictionary (康煕字典)