rampant

The story

1. Proto-Germanic · derived from*hrempaną“to curve, shrivel, shrink, wrinkle”
2. Frankish · derived from*rampōn
3. Old French · derived fromrampant
4. Middle English · inherited from*rampant
5. Old French · derived fromramper“to creep, climb”
6. Middle English · inherited fromrampand
7. English todayrampant

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”).