rank

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See also ránk

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[edit] English

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] 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).

[edit] 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 charachter; 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.
  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.
[edit] Synonyms
[edit] Translations

[edit] 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 [...].

[edit] Etymology 2

Middle English rank (line, row) from Old French reng, rang, ranc (line, row, rank) (Modern French rang), of Germanic origin, 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.

[edit] Noun

rank (plural ranks)

  1. position of a person, place, thing, or idea in relation to others based on a shared property such as physical location, population, or quality
    Based on your test scores, you have a rank of 23.
  2. a level in an organization such as the military
    Private First Class (PFC) is the lowest rank in the Marines.
  3. (taxonomy) a level in a scientific taxonomy system
    Phylum is the taxonomic rank below kingdom and above class.
  4. (usually plural) The lines or rows of people in an organization
    He rose up through the ranks of the company from mailroom clerk to CEO.
  5. One of the horizontal lines of squares on a chessboard
  6. (linear algebra) maximal number of linearly independent columns (or rows) of a matrix.
  7. (music) In a pipe organ, a set of pipes of a certain quality for which each pipe corresponds to one key or pedal.
  8. (computing) The dimensionality of an array.
[edit] Derived terms
[edit] Translations
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.

[edit] 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.
[edit] Translations

[edit] Anagrams


[edit] Dutch

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Etymology 1

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

[edit] Adjective

rank (comparative ranker, superlative rankst)

  1. slender, svelte
[edit] Declension


[edit] Etymology 2

[edit] Noun

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

  1. tendril, a thin winding stem;

[edit] Anagrams

[edit] References

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