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ensign

 - 5 dictionary results

en⋅sign

  [en-sahyn; Mil. en-suhn]
Use ensign in a Sentence
–noun
1. a flag or banner, as a military or naval standard used to indicate nationality.
2. a badge of office or authority, as heraldic arms.
3. a sign, token, or emblem: the dove, an ensign of peace.
4. U.S. Navy and Coast Guard. the lowest commissioned officer, ranking next below a lieutenant, junior grade, and equal to a second lieutenant in the Army.
5. Archaic. standard-bearer (def. 1).
Origin:
1325–75; ME ensigne < OF enseigne < L insignia; see insignia

Related forms:
en⋅sign⋅ship, en⋅sign⋅cy, noun

Synonyms:
1. pennant, streamer.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To ensign
en·sign   (ěn'sən, -sīn')   
n.  

  1. A national flag displayed on ships and aircraft, often with the special insignia of a branch or unit of the armed forces.

  2. A standard or banner, as of a military unit.

  3. Archaic A standard-bearer.

  4. (ěn'sən) Abbr. ENS

    1. A commissioned rank in the U.S. Navy or Coast Guard that is below lieutenant junior grade.

    2. One who holds this rank.

    3. A badge of office or power; an emblem: "I want the seals of power and place,/The ensigns of command,/Charged by the people's unbought grace,/To rule my native land" (John Quincy Adams).

    4. A sign; a token.

    1. A badge of office or power; an emblem: "I want the seals of power and place,/The ensigns of command,/Charged by the people's unbought grace,/To rule my native land" (John Quincy Adams).

    2. A sign; a token.


[Middle English ensigne, from Old French enseigne, from Latin īnsignia, insignia; see insignia.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

ensign 
1375, via Scottish, from O.Fr. enseigne, from L. insignia (pl.) (see insignia). Sense of "banner, flag" is c.1400; that of soldier who carries one is first recorded 1513. U.S. Navy sense of "commissioned officer of the lowest rank" is from 1886.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Bible Dictionary

Ensign

(1.) Heb. 'oth, a military standard, especially of a single tribe (Num. 2:2). Each separate tribe had its own "sign" or "ensign." (2.) Heb. nes, a lofty signal, as a column or high pole (Num. 21:8, 9); a standard or signal or flag placed on high mountains to point out to the people a place of rendezvous on the irruption of an enemy (Isa. 5:26; 11:12; 18:3; 62:10; Jer. 4:6, 21; Ps. 60:4). This was an occasional signal, and not a military standard. Elevation and conspicuity are implied in the word. (3.) The Hebrew word _degel_ denotes the standard given to each of the four divisions of the host of the Israelites at the Exodus (Num. 1:52; 2:2; 10:14). In Cant. 2:4 it is rendered "banner." We have no definite information as to the nature of these military standards. (See BANNER.)

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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Encyclopedia

ensign

heraldic symbol carried on a flag or shield. The term is much misunderstood because of the popular use of ensign as a generic term for flag. A grant of arms or a matriculation (registration of armorial bearings) may in its text use the term ensigns armorial to mean the heraldic design of the bearer's arms. See heraldry.

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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