An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Rankkorn

by Friedrich Kluge

Rankkorn, neuter, from the equivalent Middle High German rankorn, rankhorn, neuter, ‘quinsy (in pigs)’; allied to Dutch wrong, which is used of the diseases of cows. Whether it belongs, by inference from the Dutch word, to the pre-Teutonic root wrank (see renken), is uncertain.