cyme

English

Etymology 1

An error for cynne, probably resulting from the overlapping of the two ens in handwriting.

Noun

cyme

1. erroneous form of senna

References

• “Cyme” listed on page 1303 of volume II (C) of A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles [1st ed., 1893]
    Cyme (Shaks. Macb. v. iii. 55, 1st Folio), supposed to be an error for cynne, Senna. [¶] 1605 Shaks. Macb. v. iii. 55 What Rubarb, Cyme, or what Purgatiue drugge Would scowre these English hence.
• “cyme” listed in the Oxford English Dictionary [2nd ed., 1989]

Etymology 2

From the French cime, cyme (“top”, “summit”), from the Vulgar Latin cima, from the Latin cȳma (“young sprout of a cabbage”, “spring shoots of cabbage”), from the Ancient Greek κῦμα (kūma, “anything swollen, such as a wave or billow”; “fetus”, “embryo”, “sprout of a plant”), from κύω (kuō, “I conceive”, “I become pregnant”; in the aorist “I impregnate”). For considerably more information, see cyma.

Alternative forms

• cime (in the obsolete first sense only, [18th century])

Pronunciation

• (RP) enPR: sīm, IPA: /saɪm/, X-SAMPA: /saIm/

Noun

cyme (plural cymes)

1. (spelt cime, obsolete, rare) A “head” (of unexpanded leaves, etc.); an opening bud.
2. (botany) A flattish or convex flower cluster, of the centrifugal or determinate type, on which each axis terminates with a flower which blooms before the flowers below it. Contrast raceme.
   • 1906, Daniel Coit Gilman, Harry Thurston Peck, Frank Moore Colby (editors), Gentianaceæ, article in The New International Encyclopædia,

     The inflorescence is some form of cyme, and the flowers are usually regular.

   • 2003, S. M. Reddy, S. J. Chary, University Botany 2: Gymnosperms, Plant Anatomy, Genetics, Ecology, page 190,

     The plant bears small groups of two or three yellowish coloured flowers on an axillary cyme.

   • 2003, David Curtis Ferree, Ian J. Warrington, Apples: Botany, Production and Uses, page 157,

     The flower cluster is a cyme (terminal flower is the most advanced), is terminal within the bud and may contain up to six individual flowers.

3. (architecture) = cyma

Derived terms

cymelet

cymiferous

cymoid

Related terms

cyma cyma inversa cymaise cyma recta cyma reversa cymatic cymatics cymatile

cymatium cymatograph cymatolite cymobotryose cymograph cymoid, cymatoid cymophane cymophanous

cymoscope, cymatoscope cymose cymosely cymotrichous, cymatotrichous cymotrichy cymous cymule cymulose

Translations

a “head” (of unexpanded leaves, etc.)

botany: a centrifugal or definite inflorescence, esp. compound inflorescences of this type forming a more or less flat head

• Swedish: centrifugal inflorenscens (sv) c, cymös blomställning (sv) c, knippelik blomställning (sv) c, begränsad blomställning (sv) c

architecture: cyma — see cyma

References

• “Cyme” listed on page 1303 of volume II (C) of A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles [1st ed., 1893]
    Cyme (səim). Also 8 cime. [a. F. cime, cyme, in the sense ‘top, summit’ (12th c. in Hatzf.): — pop. L. cima = L. cyma (see above); in the Bot. sense an 18th c. adaptation of the ancient L.] [¶] † 1. (cime.) A ‘head’ (of unexpanded leaves, etc.). Obs. rare. [¶] 1725 Bradley Fam. Dict. s. v. Sallet, The Buds and tender Cime of Nettles by some eaten raw, by others boiled. [¶] 2. Bot. (cyme.) A species of inflorescence wherein the primary axis bears a single terminal flower which develops first, the system being continued by axes of secondary and higher orders which develop successively in like manner; a centrifugal or definite inflorescence: opposed to Raceme. Applied esp. to compound inflorescences of this type forming a more or less flat head. [¶] 1794 Martyn Rousseau’s Bot. v. 55 The arrangement of the flowers in the elder is called a cyme. 1854 S. Thomson Wild Fl. iii. (ed. 4) 250 The meadow-sweet, with its crowded cymes. [¶] 3. Arch. = Cyma. [¶] 1877 Blackmore Erema III. xlvii. 106 This is what we call a cyme-joint, a cohesion of two curved surfaces.
• cyme in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• “cyme” listed in the Oxford English Dictionary [2nd ed., 1989]

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Old English

Etymology 1

From Proto-Germanic *kumiz (“arrival”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷem- (“to go, come”). Akin to Old Frisian keme, Old Saxon kumi, Old High German cumi (“arrival”), Gothic 𐌵𐌿𐌼𐍃 (qums), Old English cuman (“to come”). More at come.

Noun

cyme m

1. coming, arrival; advent, approach
2. an event
3. an outcome, result

Declension

    Declension of cyme (strong i-stem)

	Singular	Plural
nominative	cyme	cyme, cymas
accusative	cyme	cyme, cymas
genitive	cymes	cyma
dative	cyme	cymum

Etymology 2

From Proto-Germanic *kūmiz (“delicate, feeble”). Akin to Old High German kūmo (“tender, dainty, weak”) (German kaum (“hardly”)).

Adjective

cȳme

1. comely, lovely, splendid, beautiful
2. exquisite

Related terms

• cȳmlīc