pennon
/ˈpɛnən/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.58 in modern English
8
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
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.
noun
Something resembling a pennon (sense 1).
Example Sentences
- "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: […]"
- "High on his pointed lance his Pennon bore / His Cretan Fight, the conquer'd Minotaure: […]"
- "The pennon vvas the proper enſign of a bachelor or ſimple knight. Du Freſne ſhevvs that even eſquires might bear pennons, provided they could bring a ſufficient ſuite of vaſſals into the field."
- "[I]n spite of a sort of screen intended to protect them from the wind, the flame of the torches streamed sideways into the air, like the unfurled pennon of a chieftain."
- "He has quarrelled with his neighbours, he has scourged his foes; / Vassal counts and princes follow where his pennon goes, / Long-descended valiant lords whom the vulture knows, […]"
- "Nearly all the Norman spears were embellished with pennons of from two to five points[…]."
Etymology
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)”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈpɛnən/
- British English: /ˈpɛnən/