Etymologically
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ensign

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈɛn.sɪn/, /ˈɛn.sən/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English ensigne (“sign, token, banner”),[2][3] first in Scottish use,[4][5] borrowed from Old French enseigne (“mark, symbol, signal; flag, standard”),[2][4][5][3] from Latin īnsignia, plural of īnsigne (“mark, badge of office”),[2][4][5][6] from īnsignis (“distinguished”), from in- and signum (“mark, sign”) (see sign).[6][7][8] The Latin plural was taken in Vulgar Latin for a feminine singular noun.[6] It is a doublet of insignia.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A signal, rallying cry or watchword (1375 in the OED and Barnhart), chiefly Scottish and now obsolete.[9][4][10]

Semantic evolution

By about 1400 the word meant a military or naval standard, a banner or flag,[9][4] and in the 15th and 16th centuries also a sign or token (1474) and a badge of office or rank (1513).[9][5] From the 1510s the soldier who carried the banner was called an ensign,[4][5][9] and in the British infantry this became the lowest commissioned rank.[3][11] In Tudor English the word was corrupted to ancient, as in Shakespeare's Ancient Pistol.[12] The sense of a ship's flag showing its nationality dates from the 18th century.[10] The US Navy rank of ensign, the lowest commissioned officer, dates from 1862,[5] after the French enseigne de vaisseau.[5][12]

Timeline

  • 1375 – a signal, watchword (Scottish).[9][4]
  • c. 1400 – a banner or flag.[9][4]
  • 1474 – a sign, token.[9]
  • 1513 – a badge of office.[9]
  • 1510s – a standard-bearer.[4][5]
  • 1862 – a US Navy rank.[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A national flag flown by ships and aircraft, often with the badge of a branch of the armed forces.
  2. A standard or banner, as of a military unit.
  3. (historical) A standard-bearer; formerly, the lowest commissioned officer in the British infantry.
  4. A commissioned officer of the lowest rank in the US Navy or Coast Guard, below a lieutenant junior grade.
  5. A badge of office or power; an emblem or token.
  • insignia
  • sign
  • signal
  • standard

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  3. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  7. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  8. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  10. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  11. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  12. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray