rampant
/ˈɹæm.pənt/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.55 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Rearing up, especially on its hind leg(s), with a foreleg raised and in profile.
adj
Tilted, said of an arch with one side higher than the other, or a vault whose two abutments are located on an inclined plane.
adj
Unrestrained or unchecked, usually in a negative manner.
adj
Rife, or occurring widely, frequently or menacingly.
Example Sentences
- "The Vienna riding school displays splendid rampant movement."
- "‘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."
- "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."
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”).