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Webster 1913 Edition

Rank

Rank

(răṉk)
,
Adj.
[
Com
par.
Ranker
(răṉk′ẽr)
;
sup
erl.
Rankest
.]
[AS.
ranc
strong, proud; cf. D.
rank
slender, Dan.
rank
upright, erect, Prov. G.
rank
slender, Icel.
rakkr
slender, bold. The meaning seems to have been influenced by L.
rancidus
, E.
rancid
.]
1.
Luxuriant in growth; of vigorous growth; exuberant; grown to immoderate height;
as,
rank
grass;
rank
weeds.
And, behold, seven ears of corn came up upon one stalk,
rank
and good.
Gen. xli. 5.
2.
Raised to a high degree; violent; extreme; gross; utter;
as,
rank
heresy
.
“Rank nonsense.”
Hare.
“I do forgive thy rankest fault.”
Shak.
3.
Causing vigorous growth; producing luxuriantly; very rich and fertile;
as,
rank
land
.
Mortimer.
4.
Strong-scented; rancid; musty;
as, oil of a
rank
smell;
rank
-smelling rue.
Spenser.
5.
Strong to the taste.
“Divers sea fowls taste rank of the fish on which they feed.”
Boyle.
6.
Inflamed with venereal appetite.
[Obs.]
Shak.
Rank modus
(Law)
,
an excessive and unreasonable modus. See
Modus
, 3.
–
To set
(the iron of a plane, etc.)
rank
,
to set so as to take off a thick shaving.
Moxon.

Rank

,
adv.
Rankly; stoutly; violently.
[Obs.]
That rides so
rank
and bends his lance so fell.
Fairfax.

Rank

,
Noun.
[OE.
renk
,
reng
, OF.
renc
, F.
rang
, fr. OHG.
hring
a circle, a circular row, G.
ring
. See
Ring
, and cf.
Range
,
Noun.
&
Verb.
]
1.
A row or line; a range; an order; a tier;
as, a
rank
of osiers
.
Many a mountain nigh
Rising in lofty
ranks
, and loftier still.
Byron.
2.
(Mil.)
A line of soldiers ranged side by side; – opposed to file. See 1st
File
, 1
(a)
.
Fierce, fiery warriors fought upon the clouds,
In
ranks
and squadrons and right form of war.
Shakespeare
3.
Grade of official standing, as in the army, navy, or nobility;
as, the
rank
of general; the
rank
of admiral.
4.
An aggregate of individuals classed together; a permanent social class; an order; a division;
as,
ranks
and orders of men; the highest and the lowest
ranks
of men, or of other intelligent beings.
5.
Degree of dignity, eminence, or excellence; position in civil or social life; station; degree; grade;
as, a writer of the first
rank
; a lawyer of high
rank
.
These all are virtues of a meaner
rank
.
Addison.
6.
Elevated grade or standing; high degree; high social position; distinction; eminence;
as, a man of
rank
.
Rank and file
.
(a)
(Mil.)
The whole body of common soldiers, including also corporals. In a more extended sense, it includes sergeants also, excepting the noncommissioned staff.
(b)
See under 1st
File
.
–
The ranks
,
the order or grade of common soldiers;
as, to reduce a noncommissioned officer to
the ranks
.
–
To fill the ranks
,
to supply the whole number, or a competent number.
–
To take rank of
,
to have precedence over, or to have the right of taking a higher place than.

Rank

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Ranked
(răṉkt)
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Ranking
.]
1.
To place abreast, or in a line.
2.
To range in a particular class, order, or division; to class; also, to dispose methodically; to place in suitable classes or order; to classify.
Ranking
all things under general and special heads.
I. Watts.
Poets were
ranked
in the class of philosophers.
Broome.
Heresy is
ranked
with idolatry and witchcraft.
Dr. H. More.
3.
To take rank of; to outrank.
[U.S.]

Rank

,
Verb.
I.
1.
To be ranged; to be set or disposed, as in a particular degree, class, order, or division.
Let that one article
rank
with the rest.
Shakespeare
2.
To have a certain grade or degree of elevation in the orders of civil or military life; to have a certain degree of esteem or consideration;
as, he
ranks
with the first class of poets; he
ranks
high in public estimation.

Webster 1828 Edition

Rank

RANK

, the old pret. of ring. [Nearly obsolete.]

Definition 2024

Rank

Rank

See also: rank, ránk, and ränk

Luxembourgish

Noun

Rank m ‎(plural Réng, diminutive Réngelchen)

  1. ring (annular object)
  2. ring (jewellery)

Plautdietsch

Noun

Rank f ‎(plural Ranke)

  1. creeper
  2. ivy
  3. tendril
  4. climbing plant

rank

rank

See also: Rank, ránk, and ränk

English

Adjective

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

  1. Strong of its kind or in character; unmitigated; virulent; thorough; utter.
    rank treason;  rank nonsense‎
  2. Strong in growth; growing with vigour or rapidity, hence, coarse or gross.
    rank grass;  rank weeds‎
    • Bible, Genesis xli. 5
      And, behold, seven ears of corn came up upon one stalk, rank and good.
    • 1944, Miles Burton, chapter 5, in The Three Corpse Trick:
      The hovel stood in the centre of what had once been a vegetable garden, but was now a patch of rank weeds. Surrounding this, almost like a zareba, was an irregular ring of gorse and brambles, an unclaimed vestige of the original common.
  3. 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 […]
  4. Causing strong growth; producing luxuriantly; rich and fertile.
    rank land‎
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Mortimer to this entry?)
  5. Strong to the senses; offensive; noisome.
  6. Having a very strong and bad taste or odor.
    Your gym clothes are rank, bro – when'd you last wash 'em?‎
    • Robert Boyle (1627-1691)
      Divers sea fowls taste rank of the fish on which they feed.
  7. 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”, in 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.
  8. (informal) Gross, disgusting.
  9. (obsolete) Strong; powerful; capable of acting or being used with great effect; energetic; vigorous; headstrong.
  10. (obsolete) Inflamed with venereal appetite.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Shakespeare to this entry?)
Synonyms
Translations

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

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

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 ‎(countable and uncountable, 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, in The Dust of Conflict:
      Then there was no more cover, for they straggled out, not in ranks but clusters, from among orange trees and tall, flowering shrubs […] .
  2. (music) In a pipe organ, a set of pipes of a certain quality for which each pipe corresponds to one key or pedal.
  3. 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.
  4. The level of one's position in a class-based society
  5. a hierarchical 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.
  6. (taxonomy) a level in a scientific taxonomy system
    Phylum is the taxonomic rank below kingdom and above class.
  7. (linear algebra) Maximal number of linearly independent columns (or rows) of a matrix.
  8. The dimensionality of an array (computing) or tensor (mathematics).
  9. (chess) one of the eight horizontal lines of squares on a chessboard (i.e., those which run from letter to letter). The analog vertical lines are the files.
Derived terms
Translations


Verb

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

  1. To place abreast, or in a line.
  2. To have a ranking.
    Their defense ranked third in the league.
  3. To assign a suitable place in a class or order; to classify.
    • I. Watts
      Ranking all things under general and special heads.
    • Broome
      Poets were ranked in the class of philosophers.
    • Dr. H. More
      Heresy is ranked with idolatry and witchcraft.
  4. (US) To take rank of; to outrank.
Translations

Anagrams

Dutch

Pronunciation

  • Rhymes: -ɑŋk

Etymology 1

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

Adjective

rank ‎(comparative ranker, superlative rankst)

  1. slender, svelte
Inflection
Inflection of rank
uninflected rank
inflected ranke
comparative ranker
positive comparative superlative
predicative/adverbial rank ranker het rankst
het rankste
indefinite m./f. sing. ranke rankere rankste
n. sing. rank ranker rankste
plural ranke rankere rankste
definite ranke rankere rankste
partitive ranks rankers —

Etymology 2

From Middle Dutch ranc, ranke, from Old Dutch *rank, from Frankish hranca.

Noun

rank f ‎(plural ranken, diminutive rankje n)

  1. tendril, a thin winding stem;

Anagrams

References

  1. ↑ J. de Vries & F. de Tollenaere, "Etymologisch Woordenboek", Uitgeverij Het Spectrum, Utrecht, 1986 (14de druk)

German

Etymology

From Middle Low German rank, ranc.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ʁaŋk]

Adjective

rank ‎(comparative ranker, superlative am ranksten)

  1. (archaic, except in the phrase "rank und schlank") lissom

Declension

Comparative forms of rank
number & gender singular plural
masculine feminine neuter all genders
predicative er ist ranker sie ist ranker es ist ranker sie sind ranker
strong declension
(without article)		 nominative rankerer rankere rankeres rankere
genitive rankeren rankerer rankeren rankerer
dative rankerem rankerer rankerem rankeren
accusative rankeren rankere rankeres rankere
weak declension
(with definite article)		 nominative der rankere die rankere das rankere die rankeren
genitive des rankeren der rankeren des rankeren der rankeren
dative dem rankeren der rankeren dem rankeren den rankeren
accusative den rankeren die rankere das rankere die rankeren
mixed declension
(with indefinite article)		 nominative ein rankerer eine rankere ein rankeres (keine) rankeren
genitive eines rankeren einer rankeren eines rankeren (keiner) rankeren
dative einem rankeren einer rankeren einem rankeren (keinen) rankeren
accusative einen rankeren eine rankere ein rankeres (keine) rankeren

Related terms

Verb

rank

  1. Imperative singular of ranken.

Etymology

From Old High German ring, from Proto-Germanic *hringaz.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ʀɑŋk/
    • Rhymes: -ɑŋk

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