You are here

Word Nerd: "rank"
Context and Language Videos
Act 3,
Scene 1
Lines 152-157

An explanation of the origin of the word "rank" in Act 3, Scene 1 of myShakespeare's Julius Caesar

myShakespeare | Julius Caesar 3.1 Word Nerd: Rank

Antony

[To Cassius and Brutus] I know not, gentlemen, what you intend,
Who else must be let blood, who else is rank.
If I myself, there is no hour so fit
As Caesar's death’s hour, nor no instrument
Of half that worth as those your swords, made rich
With the most noble blood of all this world.
Video Transcript: 

The word rank comes from a German word that was used to refer to someone tall, upright, or proud. But the English word had a more clearly negative connotation; it referred to someone who was too proud, someone who was haughty or arrogant – and that’s how Antony is using it here. But in Shakespeare’s day, rank had a second meaning. It described a swollen part of the body, which could be treated by draining the excess blood. So Antony cleverly combines both meanings. He’s wondering if Brutus and Cassius think there are other people who are so rank, or arrogant – like Caesar – that they must be bled, or killed, as Caesar just was.