# rampant

> English word · Adjective · IPA /ˈɹæm.pənt/ · frequency rank #13,998

## Definitions
1. Rearing on both hind legs with the forelegs extended.
2. Rearing up, especially on its hind leg(s), with a foreleg raised and in profile.
3. 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.
5. Rife, or occurring widely, frequently or menacingly.

## Etymology
From Middle English rampand, rampend, present participle of 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, 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”).

## Easily confused with
- **remnant** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rampant-vs-remnant)
- **rampart** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rampant-vs-rampart)
- **radiant** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/radiant-vs-rampant)
- **rampage** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rampage-vs-rampant)

## Common misspellings (11)
`armpant`, `ramapnt`, `rammpant`, `rampannt`, `rampantt`, `rampatn`, `rampnat`, `ramppant`, `rapmant`, `rmapant`, `rrampant`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/rampant