Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition


Ensign

En′sign

,
Verb.
T.
1.
To designate as by an ensign.
[Obs.]
Henry but joined the roses that
ensigned

Particular families.
B. Jonson.
2.
To distinguish by a mark or ornament; esp.
(Her.)
, by a crown;
thus, any charge which has a crown immediately above or upon it, is said to be
ensigned
.

Webster 1828 Edition


Ensign

EN'SIGN

,
Noun.
en'sine. [L. insigne, insignia, from signum, a mark impressed, a sign.]
1.
The flag or banner of a military band; a banner of colors; a standard; a figured cloth or piece of silk, attached to a staff, and usually with figures, colors or arms thereon, borne by an officer at the head of a company, troop or other band.
2.
Any signal to assemble or to give notice.
He will lift up an ensign to the nations. Is.5.
Ye shall be left as an ensign on a hill. Is.30.
3.
A badge; a mark of distinction, rank or office; as ensigns of power or virtue.
4.
The officer who carries the flag or colors, being the lowest commissioned officer in a company of infantry.
5.
Naval ensign, is a large banner hoisted on a staff and carried over the poop or stern of a ship; used to distinguish ships of different nations, or to characterize different equadrons of the same navy.

Definition 2024


Ensign

Ensign

See also: ensign

English

Proper noun

Ensign

  1. A surname.
  2. A hamlet in Alberta, Canada
  3. A city in Kansas
  4. (Mormonism) The official magazine of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Derived terms

  • Ensign Peak

ensign

ensign

See also: Ensign

English

Noun

ensign (plural ensigns)

  1. A badge of office, rank, or power.
    • Edmund Waller (1606-1687)
      The ensigns of our power about we bear.
  2. The lowest grade of commissioned officer in the United States Navy, junior to a lieutenant junior grade.
    • 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 10, in The Celebrity:
      The skipper Mr. Cooke had hired at Far Harbor was a God-fearing man with a luke warm interest in his new billet and employer, and had only been prevailed upon to take charge of the yacht after the offer of an emolument equal to half a year's sea pay of an ensign in the navy.
  3. A flag or banner carried by military units. See standard, color, colour.
  4. (nautical) The principal flag or banner flown by a ship to indicate nationality.
  5. A junior commissioned officer in the 18th and 19th Centuries whose duty was to carry the unit's ensign.
  6. A prominent flag or banner.

Synonyms

(junior commissioned officer):

  • coronet (cavalry equivalent of the infantry ensign)
  • second lieutenant (OF-1), first NATO commissioned officer grade above OF-0 trainee officer

Translations

Verb

ensign (third-person singular simple present ensigns, present participle ensigning, simple past and past participle ensigned)

  1. (obsolete) To designate as by an ensign.
    • (Can we date this quote?), Ben Jonson, (Please provide the title of the work):
      Henry but joined the roses that ensigned Particular families.
  2. To distinguish by a mark or ornament
  3. (heraldry) To distinguish by an ornament, especially by a crown.
    Any charge which has a crown immediately above or upon it, is said to be ensigned.