ensign
see also: Ensign
Etymology
Ensign
Proper noun
This text is extracted from the Wiktionary and it is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license | Terms and conditions | Privacy policy 0.002
see also: Ensign
Etymology
From Middle English ensigne, from Old French enseigne, from Latin īnsignia, nominative plural of īnsigne, meaning marked, distinguished.
Pronunciation Nounensign (plural ensigns)
- A badge of office, rank, or power.
- The lowest grade of commissioned officer in the United States Navy, junior to a lieutenant junior grade.
- 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter X, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC ↗:
- 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; a standard or color/colour.
- Synonyms: ancient
- 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act V, scene iv]:
- Hang up your ensigns, let your drums be still,
- (nautical) The principal flag or banner flown by a ship (usually at the stern) to indicate nationality.
- Any prominent flag or banner.
- 1667, John Milton, “(please specify the page number)”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC ↗; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC ↗:
- Ten thousand thousand ensigns high advanced.
- (historical) A junior commissioned officer in the 18th and 19th centuries whose duty was to carry the unit's ensign.
- See Thesaurus:badge
- coronet (cavalry equivalent of the infantry ensign)
- second lieutenant (OF-1), first NATO commissioned officer grade above OF-0 trainee officer
- French: aspirant
- German: Fähnrich
- Italian: guardiamarina, alfiere, cadetto
- Portuguese: alferes
- Russian: пра́порщик
- Spanish: alférez
- French: pavillon
- German: Fahne
- Italian: insegna, vessillo, baluardo, stendardo
- Portuguese: insígnia
- Russian: зна́мя
- Spanish: enseña, pabellón
ensign (ensigns, present participle ensigning; simple past and past participle ensigned)
- (obsolete) To designate as by an ensign.
- 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.
Ensign
Proper noun
- Surname.
- A hamlet in Vulcan County, Alberta.
- A minor city in Gray County, Kansas, named after founder G. L. Ensign.
- A twp in Delta County, Michigan.
- (Mormonism) The official magazine of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
This text is extracted from the Wiktionary and it is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license | Terms and conditions | Privacy policy 0.002
