rank

      See also ránk, and ränk

      English

      Pronunciation

      Etymology 1

      From Middle English rank (“strong, proud”), from Old English ranc (“proud, haughty, arrogant, insolent, forward, overbearing, showy, ostentatious, splendid, bold, valiant, noble, brave, strong, full-grown, mature”), from Proto-Germanic *rankaz (“straight”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵ- (“straight, direct”). Cognate with Dutch rank (“slender, slim”), Low German rank (“slender, projecting, lank”), Danish rank (“straight, erect, slender”), Swedish rank (“slender, shaky, wonky”), Icelandic rakkr (“straight, slender, bold, valiant”).

      Adjective

      rank (comparative ranker or more rank, superlative rankest or most rank)

      1. (obsolete) Strong; powerful; capable of acting or being used with great effect; energetic; vigorous; headstrong.
      2. Strong of its kind or in character; unmitigated; virulent; thorough; utter.
        rank treason / rank nonsense
      3. Strong in growth; growing with vigour or rapidity, hence, coarse or gross.
      4. Suffering from overgrowth or hypertrophy; plethoric.
        • 1899, Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness, section 1
          The moon had spread over everything a thin layer of silver—over the rank grass, over the mud, upon the wall of matted vegetation standing higher than the wall of a temple [...]
      5. Causing strong growth; producing luxuriantly; rich and fertile.
      6. Strong to the senses; offensive; noisome.
      7. Having a very strong and bad taste or odor.
        Your gym clothes are rank, bro’ – when d’you last wash ’em?
      8. (informal) Gross, disgusting.
      9. Complete, used as an intensifier (usually negative, referring to incompetence).
        I am a rank amateur as a wordsmith.
        • 2011 March 1, Phil McNulty, “Chelsea 2 - 1 Man Utd”, BBC:
          Chelsea remain rank outsiders to retain their crown and they still lie 12 points adrift of United, but Ancelotti will regard this as a performance that supports his insistence that they can still have a say when the major prizes are handed out this season.
      Synonyms
      Translations
      Having a very strong and bad odor
      Highly offensive; disgusting

      Adverb

      rank (comparative more rank, superlative most rank)

      1. (obsolete) Quickly, eagerly, impetuously.
        • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, II.iii:
          The seely man seeing him ryde so rancke, / And ayme at him, fell flat to ground for feare [...].
        • Fairfax
          That rides so rank and bends his lance so fell.

      Etymology 2

      Middle English rank (“line, row”), from Old French reng, rang, ranc (“line, row, rank”) (Modern French rang), from Frankish hring (“ring”), from Proto-Germanic *hringaz (“something bent or curved”), which is of uncertain origin.

      Akin to Old High German (h)ring, Old Frisian hring, Old English hring, hrincg (“ring”) (Modern English ring), Old Norse hringr (“ring, circle, queue, sword; ship”). More at ring.

      Noun

      rank (plural ranks)

      1. A row of people or things organized in a grid pattern, often soldiers [the corresponding term for the perpendicular columns in such a pattern is "file"].
        The front rank kneeled to reload while the second rank fired over their heads.
        • 1907, Harold Bindloss, chapter 7, The Dust of Conflict[1]:
          Then there was no more cover, for they straggled out, not in ranks but clusters, from among orange trees and tall, flowering shrubs […] .
      2. (chess) one of the eight horizontal lines of squares on a chessboard [the corresponding term for a vertical line is "file"].
      3. (music) In a pipe organ, a set of pipes of a certain quality for which each pipe corresponds to one key or pedal.
      4. One's position in a list sorted by a shared property such as physical location, population, or quality
        Based on your test scores, you have a rank of 23.
        The fancy hotel was of the first rank.
      5. (anchor, class)The level of one's position in a class-based society
      6. a level in an organization such as the military
        Private First Class (PFC) is the lowest rank in the Marines.
        He rose up through the ranks of the company from mailroom clerk to CEO.
      7. (taxonomy) a level in a scientific taxonomy system
        Phylum is the taxonomic rank below kingdom and above class.
      8. (linear algebra) maximal number of linearly independent columns (or rows) of a matrix or determinant.
      9. The dimensionality of an array (computing) or tensor (mathematics).
      Derived terms
      Translations
      A row of people or things organized in a grid pattern, often soldiers
      One of the horizontal lines of squares on a chessboard
      position of a person, place, thing, or idea in relation to others based on a shared property such as physical location, population, or quality
      a level in an organization such as the military
      The lines or rows of people in an organization
      maximal number of linearly independent columns (or rows) of a matrix
      In a pipe organ, a set of pipes of a certain quality for which each pipe corresponds to one key or pedal
      The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
      Translations to be checked

      Verb

      rank (third-person singular simple present ranks, present participle ranking, simple past and past participle ranked)

      1. to give a person, place, thing, or idea a rank
        Their defense ranked third in the league.
      Translations
      to give a person, place, thing, or idea a rank

      Anagrams

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      Dutch

      Pronunciation

      Etymology 1

      From Middle Dutch ranc, from Proto-Germanic *rankaz.[1]

      Adjective

      rank (comparative ranker, superlative rankst)

      1. slender, svelte
      Declension
      Declension of rank
      positive comparative superlative
      attributive predicative/adverbial
      predicative/adverbial rank ranker
      neuter
      singular      		 indefinite rank ranker
      definite ranke rankere rankste rankst, rankste
      common singular ranke rankere rankste rankste
      plural ranke rankere rankste rankste
      partitive ranks rankers

      Etymology 2

      Noun

      rank f, m (??? please provide the plural!, ??? please provide the diminutive!)

      1. tendril, a thin winding stem;

      Anagrams

      References

      1. ^ J. de Vries & F. de Tollenaere, "Etymologisch Woordenboek", Uitgeverij Het Spectrum, Utrecht, 1986 (14de druk)
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      Last modified on 18 June 2013, at 20:19