pennon

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pennon

/ˈpɛnən/ US, UK

Rhymes with -ɛnən

Where it comes from

From Late Middle English pennon, penoun (“long narrow flag attached to a lance or used in other contexts; one who bears a pennon, knight bachelor; plume of feathers; strip around the edge of a shield”), from Anglo-Norman penun (“feather of an arrow”), penoun (“flag attached to a lance”), Middle French pennon, penoun, and Old French penon (“flag attached to a lance”) (modern French pennon), from penne (“feather; wing”) + -on (diminutive suffix). Penne is inherited from Latin penna (“feather (especially a flight feather), pinion; wing”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peth₂- (“to spread out; to fly (in the sense of spreading out wings)”).

noun pennons

historical A long, narrow flag or streamer, often swallowtailed or triangular, usually hung at the top of a helmet or lance, originally the ensign of a knight under the rank of knight banneret, and later of a lancer regiment. Her yellovv lockes criſped, like golden vvyre, / About her ſhoulders vveren looſely ſhed, / And vvhen the vvinde emongſt them did inſpyre, / They vvaued like a penon vvyde diſpred / And lovv behinde her backe vvere ſcattered: […]
broadly Any banner or flag. Ceſar perceyuing the camp of hys enemyes to be empty, rolled vp his banners, and hid the penons and anteſignes of his ſouldiers, and conueying hys ſouldiers by ſlender companies out of hys greater camp into the leſſer, to thentent [the intent] it ſhould not be perceiued out of the towne, […]
archaic, broadly, poetic Synonym of pinion (“a wing”). [S]odainly there descended before him, as his face was bent towards the earth, an Angell, whose wings had glorious Pennons, and whose face glistered as the beames of the Sunne, […]
Similar: pinion
broadly A heraldic charge in the form of a pennon (sense 1).
broadly Synonym of pennant (“a flag or streamer used on a ship”). Lincolne a Ship moſt neatly that vvas lim'd, / In all her Sailes vvith Flags and Pennons trim'd.
Similar: pennant
broadly, obsolete A Knight Bachelor; also, a soldier who carries an ensign. The Duke of Brabant had .xxiiij. Banners and .lxxx. Pennons, and in all, .vij. thouſand men.
broadly, obsolete, rare An ornament that dangles or hangs down.
figuratively Something resembling a pennon (sense 1). [A] pillar of dark smoke, which ascended from the chimnies of the donjon, and spread its long dusky pennon through the clear ether, indicated that it was inhabited.

Translations

Every language

noun long, narrow flag or streamer, usually hung at the top of a helmet or lance; something resembling this

Français	pennon
Deutsch	Lanzenwimpel, Wimpel
Italiano	insegna
Ελληνικά	παράσειο paráseio, επισείων episeíon
Русский	флажо́к flažók, вы́мпел výmpel

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MLA

"pennon." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/pennon. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

pennon. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/pennon

Chicago

"pennon." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/pennon.

BibTeX

@misc{pennon_2026,
  title = {pennon},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/pennon},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}