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rankled - 2 dictionary results

ran⋅kle

  [rang-kuhl] verb, -kled, -kling.
Use rankled in a Sentence
–verb (used without object)
1. (of unpleasant feelings, experiences, etc.) to continue to cause keen irritation or bitter resentment within the mind; fester; be painful.
–verb (used with object)
2. to cause keen irritation or bitter resentment in: His colleague's harsh criticism rankled him for days.
Origin:
1250–1300; ME ranclen < MF rancler, OF raoncler, var. of draoncler to fester, deriv. of draoncle a sore < LL dracunculus small serpent, dim. of L dracō serpent; see dragon, carbuncle

Related forms:
ran⋅kling⋅ly, adverb

Synonyms:
1, 2. irritate, gall, chafe.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To rankled
ran·kle   (rāng'kəl)   
v.   ran·kled, ran·kling, ran·kles

v.   intr.
  1. To cause persistent irritation or resentment.
  2. To become sore or inflamed; fester.
v.   tr.
To embitter; irritate.

[Middle English ranclen, from Old French rancler, alteration of draoncler, from draoncle, festering sore, from Latin dracunculus, diminutive of dracō, dracōn-, serpent; see dragon.]
Word History: A persistent resentment, a festering sore, and a little snake are all coiled together in the history of the word rankle. "A little snake" is the sense of the Latin word dracunculus to which rankle can be traced, dracunculus being a diminutive of dracō, "snake." The Latin word passed into Old French, as draoncle, having probably already developed the sense "festering sore," because some of these sores resembled little snakes in their shape or bite. The verb draoncler, "to fester," was then formed in Old French. The noun and verb developed alternate forms without the d-, and both were borrowed into Middle English, the noun rancle being recorded in a work written around 1190, the verb ranclen, in a work probably composed about 1300. Both words had literal senses having to do with festering sores. The noun is not recorded after the 16th century, but the verb went on to develop the figurative senses having to do with resentment and bitterness with which we are all too familiar.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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