Ramp
/ræmp/noun
A sloping surface or incline used for moving between different levels.
Did you know?English *ramp* is related to the same old Germanic root behind *ram*—the animal’s charge and the verb’s sense of violent thrusting both echo an ancient idea of springing upward or forward.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*rampōną
“to leap, bound, or rear up”
Old French
OF
ramper
“to climb, creep, or scramble upward”
Middle English
ME
rampen
“to climb or move awkwardly upward”
15th-16th Century
English
ramp
“a steep incline or sloping way”
Modern English
English
ramp
“a sloping surface or inclined path”