different between fierce vs rampant

English

Etymology

From Middle English fers, fiers, borrowed from Old French fers (“wild", "ferocious”), nominative of fer, from Latin ferus (“wild", "untamed”)

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /f??s/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /f??s/
• Rhymes: -??(?)s

Adjective

fierce (comparative fiercer, superlative fiercest)

1. Exceedingly violent, severe, ferocious, cruel or savage.

   A fierce storm battered the coast.

   I felt a fierce loyalty to my family.

2. Resolute or strenuously active.

   We made a fierce attempt to escape.

3. Threatening in appearance or demeanor.

   The lion gave a fierce roar.

4. (slang, Ireland, rural) Excellent, very good.

   Q: "How was the party last night?" A: "Fierce!"

5. (slang, US, LGBT, fashion) Of exceptional quality, exhibiting boldness or chutzpah.

   Tyra said to strike a pose and make it fierce.

Synonyms

• (exceedingly violent): incessive
• (threatening in appearance or demeanor): incessive

Derived terms

• fiercely
• fierceness
• something fierce

Related terms

• feral
• ferocious

Translations

Adverb

fierce (not comparable)

1. (slang, Ireland, rural) Extremely; very.

   It was fierce cold last night.

References

• fierce at OneLook Dictionary Search
• fierce in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• Recife

English

Alternative forms

• rampaunt (obsolete)

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 (not found), from Old French rampant, the present participle of ramper (“to creep, climb”), equivalent to ramp +? -ant. Old French ramper derives from Frankish *ramp?n, *hramp?n (“to hook, grapple, climb”), from *rampa, *hrampa (“hook, claw, talon”), from Proto-Germanic *hrempan? (“to curve, shrivel, shrink, wrinkle”). More at ramp.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??æm.p?nt/
• Rhymes: -æmp?nt

Adjective

rampant (comparative more rampant, superlative most rampant)

1. (originally) Rearing on both hind legs with the forelegs extended.

   The Vienna riding school displays splendid rampant movement.

2. (heraldry) Rearing up, especially on its hind leg(s), with a foreleg raised and in profile.
   • 1846, Edgar Allan Poe, The Cask of Amontillado

     ‘I forget your coat of arms.’
     ‘A human foot d’or, in a field azure; the foot crushes a serpent rampant whose fangs are imbedded in the heel.’

   • 1892, Thomas Hardy, The Well-Beloved

     little pieces of moustache on his upper lip, like a pair of minnows rampant

3. (architecture) 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.
   • 2013, Phil McNulty, "Man City 4-1 Man Utd", BBC Sport, 22 September 2013:

     In contrast to the despair of his opposite number, it was a day of delight for new City boss Manuel Pellegrini as he watched the rampant Blues make a powerful statement about their Premier League ambitions.

5. Rife, or occurring widely, frequently or menacingly.

Derived terms

Related terms

• ramp
• rampage

Translations

Further reading

• rampant in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• rampant in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• rampant at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• man-trap, mantrap

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /???.p??/

Verb

rampant

1. present participle of ramper

Adjective

rampant (feminine singular rampante, masculine plural rampants, feminine plural rampantes)

1. (heraldry) rampant
2. (architecture) tilted
3. humbly inclined
4. (botany) extending over the ground rather than climbing upward
5. (literature) base; common
6. (military) stranded on the ground as opposed to flying staff

Further reading

• “rampant” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Old French

Adjective

rampant m (oblique and nominative feminine singular rampant or rampante)

1. (heraldry) rampant

Declension

Descendants

• ? English: rampant
• French: rampant

Romanian

Etymology

From French rampant.

Adjective

rampant m or n (feminine singular rampant?, masculine plural rampan?i, feminine and neuter plural rampante)

1. rampant

Declension