ensign
/ˈɛn.sɪn/
ensign noun: a badge of office, rank, or power.
Noun
ensign (plural ensigns)
- A badge of office, rank, or power.
- The Ensigns of our Power about we bear; / And every Land pays Tribute to the Fair.1690, Edmund Waller, The Maid’s Tragedy, Alter’d by Mr Waller, page 8
- The lowest grade of commissioned officer in the United States Navy, junior to a lieutenant junior grade.
- 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.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
- A flag or banner carried by military units; a standard or color/colour.
- Hang up your ensigns, let your drums be still,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]...
- Synonyms:
- ancient
- The principal flag or banner flown by a ship (usually at the stern) to indicate nationality.
- But Alcibiades swiftly ran up the Athenian ensign on his flagship and bore down on that part of the Peloponnesian fleet which held the advantage and was pursuing the Athenians.1960 [a. 120], Ian Scott-Kilvert, “Life of Alcibiades”, in The Rise and Fall of Athens: Nine Greek Lives, translation of original by Plutarch
- Any prominent flag or banner.
- Ten thousand thousand ensigns high advanced.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...
- A junior commissioned officer in the 18th and 19th centuries whose duty was to carry the unit's ensign.
Verb
ensign (third-person singular simple present ensigns, present participle ensigning, simple past and past participle ensigned)
- To designate as by an ensign.
- HENRY but ioyn’d the Roses, that ensign’d / Particular families, but this hath ioyn’d / The Rose and Thistle,1610, Ben Jonson, The Speeches at Prince Henry's Barriers, archived from the original on 18 Nov 2018
- To distinguish by a mark or ornament.
- 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.
Proper noun capitalized: Ensign
Ensign
- A surname.
- A hamlet in Vulcan County, Alberta, Canada.
- A minor city in Gray County, Kansas, United States, named after founder G. L. Ensign.
- A township in Delta County, Michigan, United States.
- The official magazine of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
ensign meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Malayalam and Kannada
ensign in Tamil
- கொடி, சின்னம், பதாகை
ensign in Urdu
- ensign, standard
- نشان niśān
ensign in Malayalam
- ഔദ്യോഗികചിഹ്നം, പദവിചിഹ്നം, പതാക, കൊടി
ensign in Kannada
- ನಾಡಗುಡಿ, ಕುಡಿ
More languagesFewer languages
- ensign in Persian
- ناوبان دو nâvbân do, درفشدار darafšdâr, پرچمدار parčamdâr
Synonyms of ensign
- ancient
- badge
- coronet
- second lieutenant
- first NATO commissioned officer grade above OF-0 trainee officer
Forms of ensign
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | ensigns |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | ensigns |
| present participle | ensigning |
| past participle | ensigned |
| past | ensigned |
Origin of ensign
From Middle English ensigne, from Old French enseigne, from Latin īnsignia, nominative plural of īnsigne, meaning marked, distinguished. Doublet of insignia.
Words formed from ensign
- Ensign Peak
- civil ensign
- ensigncy
- ensign first class
- ensign fly
- ensignhood
- ensign scale
- ensignship
- merchant ensign
- red ensign
- revenue ensign
- ship of the line ensign
- ship-of-the-line ensign
- ship of the line ensign first class
- ship-of-the-line ensign first class
- ship-of-the-line ensign second class
- ship of the line ensign second class
Phrases with ensign
Words that rhyme with ensign
Questions about ensign
- What does ensign mean?
- Ensign means a badge of office, rank, or power.
- What is ensign in Tamil?
- Ensign in Tamil is கொடி, சின்னம், பதாகை. See Ensign meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is ensign?
- Ensign can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce ensign?
- Ensign is pronounced /ˈɛn.sɪn/.
- What is the plural of ensign?
- The plural of ensign is ensigns.
Words near ensign in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: ensign (page history and authors); Ensign (page history and authors); ensign (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); نشان (Urdu) (page history and authors); ensign (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ensign (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-ensign.ogg.
Cite this entry: “ensign.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/ensign. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.