Etymology

ensign

E1N1S1I1G2N1

Today it means: A badge of office, rank, or power. Full definition →

Middle English ensigne ← Old French enseigne ← Latin īnsignia
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

The story

  1. Latin · derived fromīnsignia
  2. Old French · derived fromenseigne
  3. Middle English · inherited fromensigne
  4. English todayensign

From Middle English ensigne, from Old French enseigne, from Latin īnsignia, nominative plural of īnsigne, meaning marked, distinguished. Doublet of insignia.

Words from the same roots

Latinīnsignia all →

insignia

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.