ensign

noun

1. 1

   A badge of office, rank, or power.

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

2. 2

   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.

3. 3

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

   Hang up your ensigns, let your drums be still,

4. 4

   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.

5. 5

   Any prominent flag or banner.

   Ten thousand thousand ensigns high advanced.

6. 6

   historicalA junior commissioned officer in the 18th and 19th centuries whose duty was to carry the unit's ensign.

verb

1. 1

   obsoleteTo 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,

2. 2

   To distinguish by a mark or ornament.

3. 3

   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.

Forms

plural

ensigns

past tense

ensigned

past participle

ensigned

present participle

ensigning

third person singular

ensigns