Literary notes about Rank (AI summary)
The word "rank" in literature carries multifaceted meanings that enrich characterizations and settings. In many works it designates social or military status—as seen when it denotes noble titles that convey inherited prestige ([1]) or military advancement and hierarchical confirmation ([2], [3]). It is also employed to reflect moral or personal qualities, where being of higher rank sometimes implies a superior social or intellectual station ([4], [5], [6]), while at other times, it serves an derogatory purpose to underscore unworthiness or commonness ([7], [8]). Additionally, "rank" appears in natural and aesthetic descriptions, portraying decay or foulness in contexts like spoiled food ([9]) or invasive plants hindering progress ([10]). Through these varying usages—from socio-political ordering to vivid, sensory detail—authors deploy "rank" as a versatile tool for conveying depth and nuance in their narratives ([11], [12]).
- Noblemen and their children carry about with them, in their very titles, a sufficient notification of their rank.
— from Confessions of an English Opium-Eater by Thomas De Quincey - In 1824 he attained the rank of Major, and in 1826 that of Lieutenant-Colonel.
— from Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, v. 1 of 3 by James Tod - Although the senior in rank at the time I had been so only a few weeks.
— from Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant, Complete by Ulysses S. Grant - She has had no moralist, or historian, or political writer, or scientist of the highest rank.
— from Doña Perfecta by Benito Pérez Galdós - So sensible are brave men of honour, in whatever rank they may be placed.
— from The Life of Horatio, Lord Nelson by Robert Southey - I am not sure but that the saloon-keeper held a shade higher rank than any other member of society.
— from Roughing It by Mark Twain - He derives his princely rank from his wife, who was a daughter of Kamehameha the Great.
— from Roughing It by Mark Twain - For, though elated by his rank, it did not render him supercilious; on the contrary, he was all attention to everybody.
— from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - Downstairs I found a loaf and some rank cheese—more than sufficient to satisfy my hunger.
— from The Invisible Man: A Grotesque Romance by H. G. Wells - The mouth can be better engaged than with a cylinder of rank weed.
— from Ulysses by James Joyce - [292] [128] Pawns , the pieces of lowest rank in chess.
— from Essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson by Ralph Waldo Emerson - Yet he had many popular qualities which commended him to the rank and file of his party.
— from The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America by Thomas Jefferson
