The rime léonine, also called rime léonine or rime équivoquée in its most extreme form, represents the upper limit of rhyme richness in the French tradition, extending the sonic correspondence as far back as possible into the rhyming word, sometimes encompassing two or three syllables of identical sound. The Grands Rhétoriqueurs of the 15th century cultivated such extreme rhyme richness as a demonstration of virtuosic technical mastery. The rime équivoquée, which rhymes entire words or phrases identically, pushes this to an almost comic extreme. These hyper-rich rhymes represent the classical tradition's most exuberant celebration of sound patterning as the defining pleasure of poetry.

Rime léonine represents an especially rich and sonically elaborate form of rhyme in which phonetic correspondence extends far beyond minimal rhyme expectations. French poetic traditions often classify rhyme by richness, making this an important technical concept for advanced metrical study. Students should compare rime pauvre, rime suffisante, and rime riche to understand the hierarchy of rhyme sophistication. The term reflects a literary culture that valued acoustic refinement and verbal craftsmanship. Rich rhyming structures may create grandeur, wit, musicality, or conspicuous formal virtuosity.