rampant
Part of speech: adj
Morphological type: derivation
Topics: architecture
government
heraldry
hobbies
lifestyle
monarchy
nobility
politics
Etymology: From Middle English rampand, rampend, present participle of rampen (“to rise by climbing, shoot up, sprout, sty, ascend”), from Old French ramper (“to creep, climb”) (see below), equivalent to ramp + -and or ramp + -ant. Recorded since 1382, "standing on the hind legs" (as in heraldry), later, "fierce, ravenous" (1387). Compare Scots rampand (“rampant”).
Alternatively from Middle English *rampant, from Old French rampant, the present participle of ramper (“to creep, climb”), equivalent to ramp + -ant. Old French ramper derives from Frankish *rampōn, *hrampōn (“to hook, grapple, climb”), from *rampa, *hrampa (“hook, claw, talon”), from Proto-Germanic *hrempaną (“to curve, shrivel, shrink, wrinkle”).
Base: ramp
Affixes: -and
Inflected forms:
form: more rampant
pos: adj
tags: comparative
form: most rampant
pos: adj
tags: superlative
form: rampaunt
pos: adj
tags: alternative
obsolete
Senses:
gloss: Rearing on both hind legs with the forelegs extended.
pos: adj
examples: The Vienna riding school displays splendid rampant movement.
gloss: Rearing up, especially on its hind leg(s), with a foreleg raised and in profile.
pos: adj
examples: ‘I forget your coat of arms.’
‘A human foot d’or, in a field azure; the foot crushes a serpent rampant whose fangs are imbedded in the heel.’
little pieces of moustache on his upper lip, like a pair of minnows rampant
The crest consists of a demi-lion rampant gules (red) holding between its paws a wheel argent similar to those included in the arms.
gloss: Tilted, said of an arch with one side higher than the other, or a vault whose two abutments are located on an inclined plane.
pos: adj
gloss: Unrestrained or unchecked, usually in a negative manner.
pos: adj
examples: Weeds are rampant in any neglected garden.
Conditions were horrendous aboard most British naval vessels at the time. Scurvy and other diseases ran rampant, killing more seamen each year than all other causes combined, including combat.
The craze for -ization — a word first employed by Charles Dickens in “Our Mutual Friend” — has been around for a very long time. The patron saint of rampant suffixization is Thomas Nashe, author of the 1593 pamphlet “Christ’s Tears Over Jerusalem.” His ebullient creations included myrmidonize, unmortalize, anthropophagize, retranquillize, cabbalize, palpabrize, superficialize and citizenize — not to mention collachrymate, assertionate and intercessionate.
In contrast to the despair of his opposite number, it was a day of delight for new City boss Manuel Pellegrini as he watched the rampant Blues make a powerful statement about their Premier League ambitions.
gloss: Rife, or occurring widely, frequently or menacingly.
pos: adj
examples: There was rampant corruption in the city.
Related words: ramp
rampage
Derived words: counter-rampant
rampant gardant
rampantly
rampantness
rampant regardant
rampant sejant
sejant rampant
run rampant
Translations:
lang: Bulgarian
word: изправен на задни крака
roman: izpraven na zadni kraka
lang: Dutch
word: steigerend
lang: Finnish
word: takajaloilleen noussut
lang: Finnish
word: pystyyn noussut
lang: German
word: sich aufbäumend
lang: Irish
word: ar a ingne deiridh
lang: Macedonian
word: буен
roman: buen
lang: Russian
word: стоя́щий на за́дних ла́пах
roman: stojáščij na zádnix lápax
lang: Swedish
word: stegrande