riem, noun

/rim//riːm/
Forms:
ream, reemShow more Also ream, reem, reim, rheim, rhiem, rim.
Plurals:
riems, or occasionally rieme.
Origin:
DutchShow more Dutch, thong, strap.
1. Especially in the past, a. (a strip or thong of) raw-hide used as rope; riempie sense 1 b. b. riempie sense 1 a. c. figurative, rare. A link or tie (see quotation 1974).
1817 G. Barker Journal. 15 MayBegan, with Piet Kampher, to make a plough. Oxen rims were also cut.
1820 T. Philipps Philipps, 1820 Settler (1960) 56He..tied the Rhiem (made out of a Bullocks hide..) to his knee and turned him out.
1822 W.J. Burchell Trav. I. 151The reim (or halter), is a leathern thong about twelve feet in length, with a noose at one end, by which it is fixed round the ox’s horns. It is used for holding and managing the animal, while yoking and unyoking.
1827 T. Philipps Scenes & Occurrences 64His horse is unsaddled, a thong made of a bullock’s hide, called a riem is tied round his neck and fastened to his foreleg.
1836 A.F. Gardiner Journey to Zoolu Country 343It was a severe labour for the poor oxen, requiring..no less than three wheels to be locked as we descended on the other side, where it was necessary to apply reims to the sides, in order to keep them from falling over.
1837 ‘N. Polson’ Subaltern’s Sick Leave 131The skin of the wildebeest or gnu when brayed, is used for reims or thongs to harness the oxen, and indeed for every purpose to which twine or string is usually applied in other countries.
1850 J.E. Methley New Col. of Port Natal 22The oxen have reims or thongs of undressed skin tied round their horns and a native is required to lead the front pair.
1872 in A.M.L. Robinson Sel. Articles from Cape Monthly Mag. (1978) 280He must rack his memory many times in vain for a good English equivalent for ‘riem’, that most invaluable adjunct in every journey.
1872 C.A. Payton Diamond Diggings 43Some rope or one or two good strong rheims will also be required. Rope is very dear just now. Rheims about 2s.6d each in stores, but can be bought much cheaper in the market.
1880 E.F. Sandeman Eight Months in Ox-Waggon 130A large stock of ‘rims,’ as lengths of prepared hide are called, and which entirely take the place of rope throughout the whole of South Africa.
1899 Natal Agric. Jrnl 31 Mar. 3‘Riem,’ in the days before railways, was one of the commonest words in the Colony. It was indispensable for the handling of cattle and horses, and colonists when looking at a patched post-cart, a roughly-repaired wagon, or mended harness, would observe ‘the whole colony is hung together with riems.’
1899 D.S.F.A. Phillips S. Afr. Recollections 14The furniture consisted of..rude benches and chairs, with the seats made of riem (hide) instead of cane.
1905 G. Baumann in Baumann & Bright Lost Republic (1940) 245The town of Reddersburg..was laid out, and built upon, by farmers, who used an ordinary riem (raw-hide thong) as a chain or tape.
1935 P. Smith Platkops Children 76Close by the dam was a tremendous oak-tree with riems hangin’ down from it for makin’ harness.
1944 J.J.L. Sisson S. Afr. Judicial Dict. (1960) 674Reim is not a precise or accurate term. It is used looseley to cover any thing made from hide, and includes anything from a strip of raw hide to a hide rope which has been subjected to a considerable process of treatment and manufacture.
1968 K. McMagh Dinner of Herbs 30I get the volk to drag away the carcasses and skin them. I make riems from the good skins.
1973 M.A. Cook Cape Kitchen 79Pails were carried..two at a time, hanging by rieme from a yoke.
1974 E. Prov. Herald 28 Jan. 11The riem that was made fast 60 years ago was now being torn loose...‘I don’t know why we have to give up this land,’ the headman said. ‘I don’t know why the Government wants us to tear the riem loose.’
1985 B. Johnson-Barker Wynboer June 71They said good day to Hendrik Terblans, who said nothing, but sat still on his chair of riem and white pear.
1994 M. Roberts tr. of J.A. Wahlberg’s Trav. Jrnls 1838–56 55As we were driving down ‘Skönhogten’, the riem holding the chain broke, and in consequence the waggon came near to toppling over.
2. Parasynthetic derivatives (adjectives):
Derivatives:
riem-bottomed, riem-seated.
1870 H.H. Dugmore Reminisc. of Albany Settler 27Weary enough to sleep soundly on their reim-bottomed kaatles.
1955 A. Delius Young Trav. in S. Afr. 98They..arrived in a big dining-room with riem-seated chairs [Source Note: Riem seat — a seat made of criss-crossed leather thongs.]
3. Special Combinations and combinations
Riemland, hence Riemlander, see quotations 1913;
riem-manufacturer (objective).
1913 C. Pettman Africanderisms 400Riemland, The name by which Kroonstad, a district of the Orange Free State, used to be known.
1913 C. Pettman Africanderisms 401Riemlander, A nickname jokingly applied to the people of the above district.
1974 S. Afr. Panorama May 28There were more than enough hides for ‘riems’..hence the name ‘Riemland’. Many of the early inhabitants made their living by selling riems.
1947 C.R. Prance Antic Mem. 100Biltong specialists, riem-manufacturers, and ‘head-hunting’ sportsmen from the Rand.
(a strip or thong of) raw-hide used as rope; riempie sense 1 b.
A link or tie (see quotation 1974).
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18171994
ridgeback, nounn.riem, verb transitivev.
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