rancio

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish rancio. Doublet of rance.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʁɑ̃.sjo/

• Audio (France (Agen)):

  (file)

Noun

rancio m (plural rancios)

1. the soft, mellow quality acquired by brandy as it is aged

Further reading

• “rancio”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Galician

Alternative forms

• arrancio
• ranzo
• rencio (Eastern)

Etymology

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese ranço (13th century, Cantigas de Santa Maria), from Latin rancidus.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ˈranθjo/ [ˈran̪.θjʊ]

• IPA^(key): (standard) /ˈranθjo/ [ˈran̪.θjʊ]
• IPA^(key): (seseo) /ˈransjo/ [ˈran.sjʊ]

 

• Rhymes: -anθjo

• Rhymes: -anθjo
• Rhymes: -ansjo

• Hyphenation: ran‧cio

Adjective

rancio (feminine rancia, masculine plural rancios, feminine plural rancias)

1. rancid
2. (figurative) old-fashioned, outdated

   Synonym: anticuado

Noun

rancio m (plural rancios)

1. rancidity

References

• Seoane, Ernesto Xosé González; Granja, María Álvarez de la; Agrelo, Ana Isabel Boullón (2006–2022), “ranço”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval [Dictionary of dictionaries of Medieval Galician] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Barreiro, Xavier Varela; Guinovart, Xavier Gómez (2006–2018), “rancio”, in Corpus Xelmírez: corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval [Corpus Xelmírez: linguistic corpus of Medieval Galicia] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Santamarina, editor (2006–2013), “rancio”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Santamarina, Ernesto X. González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “rancio”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “rancio”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈran.t͡ʃo/
• Rhymes: -antʃo
• Hyphenation: ràn‧cio

Etymology 1

Apheresis of arancio (“orange”).

Alternative forms

• ranceo (uncommon)

Adjective

rancio (feminine rancia, masculine plural ranci, feminine plural rance)

1. (archaic or literary) orange

   Synonym: arancione

Further reading

• “rancio¹”, in Vocabolario Treccani on line (in Italian), Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana, 2026

Etymology 2

Inherited from Vulgar Latin *rancius, from Classical Latin rancidus (“rancid, rank”).

Adjective

rancio (feminine rancia, masculine plural ranci, feminine plural rance)

1. (archaic, regional) rancid

   Synonym: rancido

Derived terms

• rancire

Related terms

• irrancidire
• rancico
• rancidire
• rancido

Further reading

• “rancio²”, in Vocabolario Treccani on line (in Italian), Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana, 2026

Etymology 3

Borrowed from Spanish rancho. Doublet of ranch and rancho.

Noun

rancio m (plural ranci)

1. (military) each of the main meals given out to soldiers daily
2. (by extension) meal

   Synonym: pasto

3. (historical, military) each of the fixed groups into which a ship's crew was subdivided for meal consumption and cleaning of the mess
4. (nautical, regional) synonym of branda

Further reading

• “rancio³”, in Vocabolario Treccani on line (in Italian), Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana, 2026

Etymology 4

Akin to granchio (“crab”).

Noun

rancio m (plural ranci)

1. (southern Italy) synonym of scampo (“prawn”)
2. (southern Italy) synonym of grancevola (“spiny spider crab”)

Further reading

• “rancio⁴”, in Vocabolario Treccani on line (in Italian), Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana, 2026

Anagrams

• Anrico, Cornia, Norcia, Ornica, ancori, canori, carino, corani, cornai, cranio, inarco, inarcò

Neapolitan

Alternative forms

• ranco

Etymology

Inherited from Latin arāneus. Compare Italian ragno.

Pronunciation

• (Naples) IPA^(key): [ˈraɲ.d͡ʒə]

Noun

rancio m (plural rancie)

1. spider

References

• AIS: Sprach- und Sachatlas Italiens und der Südschweiz [Linguistic and Ethnographic Atlas of Italy and Southern Switzerland] – map 485: “il ragno; i ragni” – on navigais-web.pd.istc.cnr.it

Spanish

FWOTD – 14 November 2022

Etymology

Etymology tree

Latin ranceō

Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-der.

Proto-Italic *-iðos

Latin -idus

Latin rancidus

Spanish rancio

Inherited from Latin rancidus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈranθjo/ [ˈrãn̟.θjo] (Equatorial Guinea, Spain)
• IPA^(key): /ˈransjo/ [ˈrãn.sjo] (Latin America, Philippines)
• Rhymes: -anθjo (Equatorial Guinea, Spain)
• Rhymes: -ansjo (Latin America, Philippines)
• Syllabification: ran‧cio

Adjective

rancio (feminine rancia, masculine plural rancios, feminine plural rancias)

1. rancid
2. stale (butter or cheese)
3. mellow, old (wine)
4. (figurative) ancient, long-established
5. (figurative, derogatory) old-fashioned, antiquated, conservative
   • 2018 August 24, Javier Ocaña, “La vocación de lo rancio”, in El País‎^[1], Madrid, →ISSN:

     Cuando parecía que ya no se hacían películas así, Michael Radford y sus acompañantes han compuesto La música del silencio, biografía cinematográfica del tenor italiano Andrea Bocelli […] sobre un artista que seguramente no se merecía una producción tan rancia, tanto en lo interno como en lo externo.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 2021 December 3, Sami Naïr, “Un candidato del odio en Francia”, in El País‎^[2], retrieved 8 January 2022:

     Se llama Éric Zemmour, oriundo de Argelia y encarna en una sola persona el racismo anti-musulmán, el antisemitismo y el antieuropeísmo más rancio.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 2021 December 11, José Sámano, “Santana, un grande de hoy, ayer y mañana”, in El País‎^[3]:

     Santana fue el embrión de Santana, del tenis español. Y todo por su cuenta, en tiempos de franciscana austeridad, del rancio franquismo y con el deporte entroncado al paleolítico.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Derived terms

• enranciar
• neorrancio
• rancidez

Descendants

• → French: rancio

Noun

rancio m (plural rancios)

1. curmudgeon

Further reading

• “rancio”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

Anagrams

• incoar, ración