ensign
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A flag or banner carried by military units.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
ehnsuhnSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈɛnsən
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A flag or banner carried by military units; a standard or color/colour.
nautical
An emblem flown as a symbol of nationality
nautical
Colors flown by a ship to show its nationality
nautical
The principal flag or banner flown by a ship (usually at the stern) to indicate nationality.
A person who holds a commissioned rank in the United States Navy or the United States Coast Guard; below lieutenant junior grade
“The young ensign reported for duty aboard her first Navy ship.”
A badge of office, rank, or power.
verb
To distinguish by a mark or ornament.
Word at a Glance
- Frequency
- Uncommon
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A flag or banner carried by military units; a standard or color/colour.
Used this way, ensign is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a military use: it belongs to service and operational language.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Military
- Historical writing
- News/reporting
- Technical/specialist writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
- lieutenantnoun
- regimentnoun
- navynoun
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Words can change meaning depending on context.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.