From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishensignen‧sign /ˈensaɪn, -sən $ ˈensən/ noun [countable] 1 TTWPMNa flag on a ship that shows what country the ship belongs to the Russian ensign2 PMNa low rank in the US navy, or an officer who has this rank
Examples from the Corpus
ensign• Between her first and second missions she was commissioned an ensign in the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry.• The airship's charred ensign hangs in the nearby church.• By contrast the courtesy ensign has become more of a duty than a courtesy.• On a long cruise the courtesy ensigns can cost more than the charts and wear out quicker.• Shaker gave a loose salute, and the grinning ensign tapped his forehead with a finger.• The average yachtsmen lashes his ensign to the backstay, and there it stays until it rots.• They'd piled him in with the dead, and it was only later a naval ensign noticed him twitching.• Dogwell was big and looked as if he would have liked to tie the ensign into some kind of handy knot.Origin ensign (1300-1400) Old French enseigne, from Latin insignia; → INSIGNIA 