Emily Dickinson Lexicon

RANK'NESS, n.

1. Vigorous growth; luxuriance; exuberance; as, the rankness of plants or herbage.
2. Exuberance; excess; extravagance; as, the rankness of pride; the rankness of joy. – Shak.
3. Extraordinary strength. The crane's pride is in the rankness of her wing. – L'Estrange.
4. Strong taste; as, the rankness of flesh or fish.
5. Rancidness; rank smell; as, the rankness of Oil.
6. Excessiveness; as, the rankness of a composition or modus. – Blackstone.