Etymograph

English

rant

Rant comes from Dutch ranten ‘to talk nonsense, rave’, and goes back to Middle Dutch ranten ‘to rant, babble, goof around’.

  1. Middle Dutchc. 1150–1500ranten‘to rant, babble, goof around’
  2. Dutchc. 1500–presentsame form‘to talk nonsense, rave’
  3. Englishtodayrant

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Middle Dutchc. 1150–1500ranten‘to rant, babble, goof around’
  2. Dutchc. 1500–presentsame form‘to talk nonsense, rave’
  3. Englishtodayrant

The story

From Dutch ranten, randen (‘to talk nonsense, rave’), from Middle Dutch ranten (‘to rant, babble, goof around’), of uncertain origin; but apparently related to Middle High German ranzen (‘to dance, jump around, frolic’), German ranzen (‘to be ardent, be in heat, copulate, mate, ramble, join up’).uncertain The source flags this step as uncertain.

Every English word from Middle Dutch ranten

Today it means

verb To speak or shout at length in uncontrollable anger.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Middle Dutch ranten / rant

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