Meaning

noun a row or line of people (especially soldiers or police) standing abreast of one another

verb take or have a position relative to others

adjective very fertile; producing profuse growth

originFrom Middle English rank (“strong, proud”), from Old English ranc (“proud, haughty, arrogant, insolent, forward, overbearing, showy, ostentatious, splendid, bold, valiant, noble, brave, strong, full-grown, mature”), from Proto-West Germanic *rank, from Proto-Germanic *rankaz (“straight”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵ- (“straight, direct”). Cognate with Dutch rank (“slender, slim”), Low German…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0