Sorry,
Webster 1913, but you're wrong about the
etymology of
rankle. It's much more interesting than just being the verb from the adjective
rank. Current wisdom is it in fact comes from the
Old French drancler, with a D that dropped away. This came from the Latin
dracunculus, a little
dragon, and referred to an
ulcer or
tetter or
pain that gnawed away at you like a little dragon. See also
dracunculiasis for a modern disease with the same metaphor.
Here's the complete entry from the Chambers Dictionary:
rankle, rangk'l, v.i. to fester : to cause festering : to go on vexing, irritating, or embittering.--v.t. to cause to fester : to envenom : to embitter.--n. a rankling. [O.Fr. rancler, raoncler--draoncler, app.--L.L. dra(cu)nculus, an ulcer, dim. of L. dracō--Gr. drakōn, dragon.]
And here it is in the unrelated Pocket Oxford Dictionary:
rankle (răng'kl), v.i. (Of envy, disappointment, criticism, &c.) gnaw at the heart, cause recurrent pangs. [F rancler, drancler, f. L dracunculus little serpent]