rampant
/ˈɹæm.pənt/ adjective, adverb
Forms rampaunt
- adjective (originally) Rearing on both hind legs with the forelegs extended. “The Vienna riding school displays splendid rampant movement.”
- adjective (heraldry) Rearing up, especially on its hind leg(s), with a foreleg raised and in profile.
- adjective (architecture) Tilted, said of an arch with one side higher than the other, or a vault whose two abutments are located on an inclined plane.
- adjective Unrestrained or unchecked, usually in a negative manner. “Weeds are rampant in any neglected garden.”
- adjective Rife, or occurring widely, frequently or menacingly. “There was rampant corruption in the city.”
- adverb (informal, nonstandard) Rampantly. “Things seem to be running rampant around here lately.”
Synonyms
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”).
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Ramping; leaping; springing; rearing upon the hind legs; hence, raging; furious.
- adjective Ascending; climbing; rank in growth; exuberant.
Etymology [F., p. pr. of ramper to creep. See Ramp, v.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “rampant”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details