Rampant

How to spell rampant

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce rampant

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does rampant mean?

1. adjectiveSpreading, growing, or occurring without any restraint or control.
2. adjectiveIn heraldry, depicted rearing up on the hind legs, as a lion on a coat of arms.

Rampant in a sentence

• Corruption was rampant throughout the local council.

• The family crest featured a golden lion rampant on a red shield.

• The auditors found rampant overspending across every department.

• The heraldic griffin stood rampant above the castle gate.

Where does rampant come from?

Language of origin: French

Rampant comes from Old French rampant, the present participle of the verb ramper, which meant 'to crawl, creep, or climb'. That verb is thought to derive from a Frankish (Germanic) root related to clinging and clambering. English borrowed the word in the 1300s first as a term of heraldry, describing a lion or other beast reared up on its hind legs as if climbing or about to strike. From that image of an animal rearing wildly came the broader modern sense of something growing or spreading without restraint. The same ramper root also gave English the word 'ramp', the sloping surface you climb. Knowing that the ending is the French participle -ant, not -ent, is the key to spelling it correctly.

How the word is built

• ramp- (from Old French ramper, to climb or rear up)
• -ant (adjective-forming suffix)