Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Ensign
En′sign
,Verb.
T.
1.
To designate as by an ensign.
[Obs.]
Henry but joined the roses that
Particular families.
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.
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
ensign
See also: Ensign
English
Noun
ensign (plural ensigns)
- A badge of office, rank, or power.
- Edmund Waller (1606-1687)
- The ensigns of our power about we bear.
- Edmund Waller (1606-1687)
- 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.
-
- A flag or banner carried by military units. See standard, color, colour.
- William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
- Hang up your ensigns, let your drums be still.
- William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
- (nautical) The principal flag or banner flown by a ship to indicate nationality.
- A junior commissioned officer in the 18th and 19th Centuries whose duty was to carry the unit's ensign.
- A prominent flag or banner.
- 1667?, John Milton, Paradise Lost
- Ten thousand thousand ensigns high advanced.
- 1667?, John Milton, Paradise Lost
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
military officer
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banner
Verb
ensign (third-person singular simple present ensigns, present participle ensigning, simple past and past participle ensigned)
- (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.
-
- To distinguish by a mark or ornament
- (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.