ensign

See also: Ensign

English

Etymology

From Middle English ensigne, from Old French enseigne, from Latin īnsignia, nominative plural of īnsigne. Doublet of insignia.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɛn.sɪn/, IPA^(key): /ˈɛn.sən/, /ˈɛns.n̩/ IPA^(key): /ˈɛn.saɪn/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛnsən

Noun

ensign (plural ensigns)

1. A badge of office, rank, or power.
   • 1690, Edmund Waller, The Maid’s Tragedy, Alter’d by Mr Waller‎^[1], page 8:

     The Ensigns of our Power about we bear; / And every Land pays Tribute to the Fair.

2. 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.

3. A flag or banner carried by military units; a standard or color/colour.

   Synonym: 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,

4. (nautical) The principal flag or banner flown by a ship (usually at the stern) to indicate nationality.
5. 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:

     Ten thousand thousand ensigns high advanced.

6. (historical) A junior commissioned officer in the 18th and 19th centuries whose duty was to carry the unit's ensign.

Synonyms

• See Thesaurus:badge

(junior commissioned officer):

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

Derived terms

• ensign first class
• red ensign

Translations

a badge of office, rank, or power

• Latin: insigne (la) n
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

military officer

• Azerbaijani: gizir
• Catalan: guardiamarina m or f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 少尉 (zh) (shǎowèi)

• Dutch: vaandrig (nl) m
• Finnish: aliluutnantti (fi)
• French: aspirant (fr) m
• German: Fähnrich (de) m
• Greek: σημαιοφόρος (el) (simaiofóros)
• Italian: guardiamarina m, alfiere (it) m, cadetto (it) m
• Japanese: 少慰 (しょうい, shōi)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Kazakh: прапорщик (praporşik)
• Norwegian: fenrik m
• Persian: ناوبان دو (nāvbān do)
• Polish: chorąży (pl) m
• Portuguese: alferes (pt) m
• Russian: пра́порщик (ru) m (práporščik)
• Serbo-Croatian: zastavnik (sh) m, zastavnica (sh) f
• Slovene: zastávnik m, zastávnica f, praporščak m, praporščakinja f
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: chórgojnik m

• Swedish: fänrik (sv) c

banner

• Bulgarian: флаг (bg) m (flag), знаме (bg) n (zname)
• Dutch: vaandel (nl) n
• Esperanto: ŝipflago
• French: pavillon (fr) m
• German: Fahne (de) f
• Greek: σημαία (el) f (simaía), λάβαρο (el) n (lávaro)
• Italian: insegna (it) f, vessillo (it) m, baluardo (it) m, stendardo (it) m
• Maori: haki
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Norwegian: fane (no) m or f
• Persian: درفشدار (darafšdār), پرچمدار (fa) (parčamdār)
• Polish: bandera (pl) f
• Portuguese: insígnia (pt) f
• Russian: зна́мя (ru) n (známja)
• Scots: ensenyie
• Serbo-Croatian: krmena zastava f
• Spanish: enseña (es) f, pabellón (es) m

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.
   • 1610, Ben Jonson, The Speeches at Prince Henry's Barriers‎^[2]:

     HENRY but ioyn’d the Roses, that ensign’d / Particular families, but this hath ioyn’d / The Rose and Thistle,

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.

Anagrams

• engins, genins