rancid

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈrænsɪd/ UK /ˈrænsɪd/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

adj
smelling or tasting unpleasantly stale, as of spoiled fat or oil

The butter had turned rancid and stank up the whole pantry.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · smelling or tasting... rank stale putrid fetid foul sour off

Opposites

fresh sweet

Word family

Derived forms rancidityrancidness

Related forms rancor

Simplified etymology

Rancid entered English in the early seventeenth century from Latin rancidus “stinking.” The related Latin rancor “rankness” is also the source of rancour.

Etymology

From Latin rancidus ('stinking, rank'), from rancere ('to be rotten or stink').

rancidus Latin rancere Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

External links

# rancid

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈrænsɪd/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈrænsɪd/

## Meanings
1. smelling or tasting unpleasantly stale, as of spoiled fat or oil

## Examples
- The butter had turned rancid and stank up the whole pantry.

## Synonyms
- rank
- stale
- putrid
- fetid
- foul
- sour
- off

## Antonyms
- fresh
- sweet

## Derived Forms
- rancidity
- rancidness

## Related Forms
- rancor

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: rancidus
- Root: rancere

## Etymology
From Latin rancidus ('stinking, rank'), from rancere ('to be rotten or stink').

## AI Etymology
Rancid comes from Latin rancidus ('stinking, rank'), from rancere ('to be rotten or stink'). The historical chain includes Latin rancidus and Latin rancere. Older glosses in the chain include "stinking, rank" and "to be rotten or stink", which help explain the semantic range of the modern word. Morphologically, rancid is best read as borrowing, yielding an English adjective shaped by both form history and later usage. In current English it functions as an adjective, with the sense "smelling or tasting unpleasantly stale, as of spoiled fat or oil". English derivatives include rancidity and rancidness; related forms include rancor. The result is an English adjective whose etymology preserves the older forms while supporting the word's specialized modern meaning.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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