banner

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈbænə/ (UK); /ˈbænɚ/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English banere, borrowed from Old French baniere (“flag, banner, standard”), banere,^[2][3][4][5] from Late Latin bandum (“standard”),^[3] from a Germanic source, Proto-Germanic *bandwa-, identifying sign, banner, also the source of Gothic bandwa, sign.^[3][2] Barnhart notes that the Old French form was influenced by ban, a proclamation summoning vassals for war (see ban),^[2][5] and Etymonline traces the Germanic word to PIE Proto-Indo-European *bha- (“to shine”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A piece of cloth fixed to a pole, a standard: probably before 1200, in the Ancrene Riwle.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

It was formerly the standard of a king, lord or knight, behind which his followers marched and to which they rallied in battle,^[3] and troops under one banner is a sense from before 1300.^[2] A flag carried in a procession is from about 1305,^[6] and the figurative sense, anything displayed as a profession of principles, from the early 14th century in Etymonline and 1581 in the OED.^[3][6] A flag awarded as a distinction is American from 1840.^[6] A newspaper headline across the top of the page is from 1913.^[3] The adjective, outstanding, is a later American sense.^[7][5]

Timeline

• before 1200 – a standard.^[2]
• before 1300 – troops under a banner.^[2]
• early 14th century – a profession of principles.^[3]
• 1840 – a flag awarded as a distinction.^[6]
• 1913 – a newspaper headline.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A long strip of cloth bearing a slogan or advertisement, or one carried in a procession or demonstration.
2. The flag of a nation, army or ruler; a standard.
3. Something that represents a belief or principle.
4. A headline across the width of a newspaper page.

Adjective

1. (US) Unusually good; outstanding: a banner year.

Verb

1. To give a story a banner headline.

Word family

• bannered
• bannerless
• bannerlike
• bannerette
• bannerman
• banner cloud
• snow banner

Related words

• band
• ban
• bannerol
• bandit

Usage notes

In Gloucestershire dialect banner was a name of the stickleback.^[8]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
8. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)