rank
Rank, a position or row, and rank, coarse or foul-smelling, are different words.[1][2][3]
Pronunciation
- IPA: /ræŋk/[4]
rank1 position
Etymology
It is inherited from Middle English ranc, borrowed from Old French ranc, a variant of renc, reng “row, line”,[5][1][3] from Frankish *hring or another Germanic source,[5][1] from Proto-Germanic *hringaz (“circle, ring”).[5][2] It is related to ring, range and harangue.[5][6]
Earliest recorded meaning
A row, line or series: before 1325 in Barnhart, the early 14th century in Etymonline.[1][5] The OED dates it from 1570, in common use from about 1580.[7]
Semantic evolution
A row of an army is from about 1400,[5] and a social class or high status from the early 15th century (about 1430 in Barnhart).[5][1] A relative position, as in the first rank, is from Shakespeare's Macbeth in 1605.[1][5] One of the rows across a chessboard is by the 1570s.[5][7] Rank and file was used of soldiers in formation in 1598, of common soldiers from 1796, and of ordinary people from 1860.[1][6] A row of taxis waiting for hire is from about 1843.[7][8] The verb, to arrange in lines, is from 1573,[1][3] to classify from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet in 1592,[1] and to outrank by 1841.[5]
Timeline
- a. 1325 – a row.[1]
- c. 1430 – social rank.[1]
- 1573 – verb, to arrange in lines.[1]
- 1598 – rank and file.[1]
- 1605 – a relative position.[1]
- c. 1843 – a taxi rank.[7]
Modern meaning
Noun
- A position in an organization such as the army: the rank of captain.
- A position in a society or a scale of value.
- High social position.
- A row or line, especially of soldiers, or of taxis waiting.
- (plural) Ordinary soldiers, or the members of a group: the ranks.
Verb
- To give a position in a scale to someone or something; to classify.
- To have a particular position in a scale.
- (US) To be higher in rank than someone.
rank2 coarse, foul
Etymology
It is inherited from Middle English ranc, rank, inherited from Old English ranc (“proud, overbearing, showy”),[5][1][3] from Proto-Germanic *rankaz, the source also of German rank “slender” and Old Norse rakkr “straight, erect”, of uncertain origin.[5][1]
Earliest recorded meaning
Proud, overbearing, showy: about 1000 in Barnhart, in Old English.[1][5][2]
Semantic evolution
Strong or violent is from about 1250.[1][2] Of plants, growing vigorously or too thickly, it is from about 1300,[5][2] and large and coarse also from about 1300.[5] Corrupt or loathsome is from the mid-14th century, perhaps influenced by French rance “rancid”.[5] Extreme, utter, as in rank folly, is from 1513,[1][5] and having a strong bad smell from before 1529, in Skelton.[1][5] The OED notes that the history of its senses is far from clear.[5]
Timeline
- c. 1000 – proud.[1]
- c. 1300 – of plants, luxuriant.[5]
- mid-14th century – foul.[5]
- 1513 – utter.[1]
- a. 1529 – foul-smelling.[1]
Modern meaning
Adjective
- Having a strong, unpleasant smell or taste.
- Complete; utter: a rank beginner.
- Growing too thickly and coarsely.
- Offensive or disgusting.
Related words
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
- ^ a b c d e Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
- ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press