rampant en · ADJ
Pronunciation
- /ˈɹæm.pənt/
- (Southern-England) audio
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”).
Meanings
-
(qualifier:originally) Rearing on both hind legs with the forelegs extended.
The Vienna riding school displays splendid rampant movement.
-
Rearing up, especially on its hind leg(s), with a foreleg raised and in profile.
‘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.’
1846, Edgar Allan Poe, The Cask of Amontillado:The crest consists of a demi-lion rampant gules (red) holding between its paws a wheel argent similar to those included in the arms.
1957 February 14, “B.T.C. Armorial Bearings”, in Railway Magazine, page 81:little pieces of moustache on his upper lip, like a pair of minnows rampant
1892, Thomas Hardy, The Well-Beloved:
- Tilted, said of an arch with one side higher than the other, or a vault whose two abutments are located on an inclined plane.
-
Unrestrained or unchecked, usually in a negative manner.
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.
2013 September 22, Phil McNulty, “Man City 4-1 Man Utd”, in BBC Sport: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.
2012 March 14, William E. Carter, Merri Sue Carter, “The British Longitude Act Reconsidered”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, page 87: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.
2012 October 28, Helen Sword, “Mutant Verbs”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 20 Apr 2024, Draft:
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Rife, or occurring widely, frequently or menacingly.
There was rampant corruption in the city.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| rampaunt | alternative, obsolete | lexicographic | |
| more rampant | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic | |
| most rampant | Degree=Sup | lexicographic |
Deriveds
rampant regardant · run rampant · rampant sejant · rampantness · counter-rampant · sejant rampant · rampant gardant · rampantly
Hyponyms
Relateds
Translations (69)
nl steigerend (rearing animal) · oc desfrenat (unrestrained) · de ungezügelt (rife and menacing) · sv ohejdad (unrestrained) · bg изправен на задни крака (rearing animal) · ar هَائِج (unrestrained) · nl ongecontroleerd (unrestrained) · ru я́рый (unrestrained) · sv vild (unrestrained) · oc descabestrat (unrestrained) · sv grasserande (rife and menacing) · fi pystyyn noussut (rearing animal) · ru бу́йный (unrestrained) · es sin mesura (unrestrained) · es galopante (unrestrained) · it rampante (heraldry) · ru стоя́щий на за́дних ла́пах (rearing animal) · fi hillitön (unrestrained) · es rampante (rife and menacing) · fi pidäkkeetön (unrestrained) · ja 手がつけられない (unrestrained) · es rampante (unrestrained) · de sich aufbäumend (rearing animal) · es proliferante (rife and menacing) · pt galopante (unrestrained) · fr rampant (heraldry) · ru безу́держный (unrestrained) · mk буен (rearing animal) · sv stegrande (rearing animal) · fi hillitön (rife and menacing) · it dilagante (rife and menacing) · fi rehottava (unrestrained) · nl ongebreideld (rife and menacing) · fi pystyyn kavahtanut (heraldry) · ga ar a ingne deiridh (heraldry) · bg с опори на различни нива (architecture) · nl ongebreideld (unrestrained) · ru угрожа́ющий (rife and menacing) · bg необуздан (unrestrained) · sv upprest (heraldry) · es endémico (rife and menacing) · fr effréné (unrestrained) · sv otyglad (unrestrained) · nl woekerend (unrestrained) · nl uit de hand gelopen (rife and menacing) · es desenfrenado (unrestrained) · ga ar a ingne deiridh (rearing animal) · ga uaibhreach (unrestrained) · es invasor (rife and menacing) · el ασυγκράτητος (unrestrained) · sv hejdlös (unrestrained) · ar جَامِح (unrestrained) · mk буен (heraldry) · ru неи́стовый (unrestrained) · ru неистовый (rife and menacing) · cmn 繁茂 (unrestrained) · es invasivo (rife and menacing) · bg яростен (rife and menacing) · it sfrenato (unrestrained) · es extendidísimo (rife and menacing) · nl hellend (architecture) · fi takajaloilleen noussut (rearing animal) · fi pystyyn noussut (heraldry) · fi rehottava (rife and menacing) · pt desenfreado (unrestrained) · de zügellos (unrestrained) · cmn 猖獗 (unrestrained) · el αχαλίνωτος (rife and menacing) · bg неистов (unrestrained)