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Webster 1913 Edition

Rampant

Ramp′ant

(rămp′ant)
,
Adj.
[F., p. pr. of
ramper
to creep. See
Ramp
,
Verb.
]
1.
Ramping; leaping; springing; rearing upon the hind legs; hence, raging; furious.
The fierce lion in his kind
Which goeth
rampant
after his prey.
Gower.
[The] lion . . .
rampant
shakes his brinded mane.
Milton.
2.
Ascending; climbing; rank in growth; exuberant.
The
rampant
stalk is of unusual altitude.
I. Taylor.
3.
(Her.)
Rising with fore paws in the air as if attacking; – said of a beast of prey, especially a lion. The right fore leg and right hind leg should be raised higher than the left.
Rampant arch
.
(a)
An arch which has one abutment higher than the other
.
(b)
Same as
Rampant vault
, below.
–
Rampant gardant
(Her.)
,
rampant, but with the face turned to the front.
–
Rampant regardant
,
rampant, but looking backward.
–
Rampant vault
(Arch.)
,
a continuous wagon vault, or cradle vault, whose two abutments are located on an inclined plane, such as the vault supporting a stairway, or forming the ceiling of a stairway.

Webster 1828 Edition

Rampant

RAMP'ANT

,
Adj.
[See Ramp and Ramble.]
1.
Overgrowing the usual bounds; rank in growth; exuberant; as rampant weeds.
2.
Overleaping restraint; as rampant vice.
3.
In heraldry, applied to the lion, leopard or other beast, rampant denotes the animal reared and standing on his hind legs, in the posture of climbing. It differs from saliant, which indicates the posture of springing or making a sally.
The lion rampant shakes his brinded mane.

Definition 2024

rampant

rampant

English

Alternative forms

Adjective

rampant ‎(comparative more rampant, superlative most rampant)

  1. (originally) Rearing on both hind legs with the forelegs extended.
    • The Vienna riding school displays splendid rampant movement.
  2. (heraldry) Rearing up, especially on its hind leg(s), with a foreleg raised and in profile.
    • 1846, Edgar Allan Poe, The Cask of Amontillado
      ‘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.’
    • Thomas Hardy, The Well-Beloved
      little pieces of moustache on his upper lip, like a pair of minnows rampant
  3. (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.
  4. Unrestrained or unchecked, usually in a negative manner.
    • Weeds are rampant in any neglected garden.
    • 2012 March 1, William E. Carter, Merri Sue Carter, “The British Longitude Act Reconsidered”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, page 87:
      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.
    • 2013, Phil McNulty, "Man City 4-1 Man Utd", BBC Sport, 22 September 2013:
      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.
  5. Rife, or occurring widely, frequently or menacingly.
    • There was rampant corruption in the city.

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Anagrams

French

Verb

rampant

  1. present participle of ramper

Adjective

rampant m ‎(feminine singular rampante, masculine plural rampants, feminine plural rampantes)

  1. (heraldry) rampant
  2. (architecture) tilted
  3. humbly inclined
  4. (botany) extending over the ground rather then climbing upward
  5. (literature) base; common
  6. (military) stranded on the ground as opposed to flying staff

Old French

Adjective

rampant m ‎(oblique and nominative feminine singular rampant or rampante)

  1. (heraldry) rampant

Declension

Descendants

Etymology

From Middle English rampand, rampend, present participle of Middle English 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 (not found), 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”). More at ramp.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈɹæm.pənt/
  • Rhymes: -æmpənt

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