arrant

== English == === Etymology === A variant of errant, from Middle English erraunt [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman erraunt, from Old French errant, the present participle of errer (“to walk (to); to wander (to); (figuratively) to travel, voyage”), and then: from Vulgar Latin iterō (compare Late Latin itinerō, itineror (“to travel, voyage”)), from Latin iter (“a route (including a journey, trip; a course; a path; a road)”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ey- (“to go”); and from Latin errāns (“straying, errant; wandering”), the present active participle of errō (“to rove, wander; to get lost, go astray; to err, wander from the truth”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ers- (“to flow”). The original sense was sense 3 (“roving around, wandering”). Due to the word being used to describe disreputable persons who wandered about (for example, arrant knave and arrant thief), it came to be used as an intensifier (sense 1: “complete; downright; utter”) and to have a negative meaning (sense 2: “very bad; despicable”). === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈæɹ(ə)nt/ (General American) enPR: ărʹənt (without the Mary–marry–merry merger) IPA(key): /ˈæɹənt/ (Mary–marry–merry merger) IPA(key): /ˈɛɹənt/ Homophone: errant (Mary–marry–merry merger) Hyphenation: ar‧rant === Adjective === arrant (comparative more arrant or arranter, superlative most arrant or arrantest) (chiefly with a negative connotation, dated) Complete; downright; utter. Synonyms: out-and-out, unmitigated; see also Thesaurus:total (by extension, dated) Very bad; despicable. Synonyms: see Thesaurus:bad, Thesaurus:evil Antonyms: see Thesaurus:good Obsolete form of errant (“roving around; wandering”). ==== Usage notes ==== Although arrant is a variant of errant, their modern meanings have diverged. Arrant is used in the sense “complete; downright; utter” (for example, “arrant knaves”), while errant means “roving around; wandering” and is often used after the noun it modifies (for example, “knight errant”). The use of errant to mean “complete; downright; utter”, and arrant to mean “roving around; wandering”, is obsolete. ==== Alternative forms ==== errant (“complete; downright, utter”) (obsolete) ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Translations ==== === References === === Further reading === “errant, arrant”, in Merriam–Webster’s Dictionary of English Usage, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1994, →ISBN, pages 406–407. William Safire (22 January 2006), “On Language: Arrant Nonsense”, in The New York Times Magazine‎[2], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 8 September 2021. Paul Brians (2009), “arrant/errant”, in Common Errors in English Usage, 2nd edition, Wilsonville, Or.: William, James & Company, →ISBN. === Anagrams === rat ran