pennon
(ˈpɛnən)
Forms: 4–8 penon, 4–5 penoun, 4 pen(n)own(e, 5 pynoune, -youn, ? pynon, Sc. pannoun, 5– pennon.
[ME. a. OF. penon (also penn-, pan-, pannon) = Pr. peno, penon, OCat. pano, It. pennone, generally held to be a Romanic deriv. of L. and It. penna, F. penne feather, plume, wing (Diez, Littré, Darm.). It. had the sense ‘plume of feathers’, and OF. that of ‘feather of an arrow’, as well as that of ‘streamer’. Sp. has pendon, Pg. pendão,mod.Cat. pendó, with intrusive d, perh. by association with pender to hang; cf. Eng. pendant for pennon.]
1. A long narrow flag or streamer, triangular and pointed, or swallow-tailed, usually attached to the head of a lance (or a helmet), formerly borne as a distinction by a knight under the rank of banneret, and sometimes having his cognizance upon it; now a military ensign of the lancer regiments.
| 1375 Barbour Bruce viii. 227 Thair speris, thair pennowyns, and thar scheldis Of licht Illumynit all the feldis. c 1386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 120 By his Baner born in his penoun. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) V. 121 In the baners and penons of his knyghtes. 1390 Gower Conf. III. 56 Of his contre the signe was Thre fisshes, whiche he scholde bere Upon the penon of a spere. 1456 Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 141 He tynis his pannoun and his haubergeoun. 14.. Lansd. MS. 225 lf. 431 in Promp. Parv. 392 note, A guydon to be in length ij. yardes and a half, or iij. A pennon of armes round att the end, and to be in length ij yardes. c 1500 MS. Harl. 838 lf. 5 Euery baronet..shal haue hys baner displeyd in ye feild yf he be chyef capteyn, euery knyght his penoun, euery squier or gentleman hys getoun or standard. 1591 Garrard's Art Warre 141 A litle Phane or Penon of silke upon a wyre... They must weore this either upon their burgonets, or upon their hats if they will. 1687 A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. ii. 104 At the end of this Carrere there are men who have several Arrows ready, with little penons hanging at them. 1700 Dryden Pal. & Arcite i. 115 High on his pointed lance his pennon bore, His Cretan fight, the conquer'd Minotaur. 1786 Grose Milit. Antiq. I. 205 note, The pennon was the proper ensign of a bachelor or simple knight. Du Fresne shews that even the esquires might bear pennons, provided they could bring a sufficient suite of vassals into the field. 1801 Ibid. (ed. 2) II. 52 The pennon was..like a banner, with the addition of a triangular point.—By the cutting off of this point, on the performance of any gallant action by the knight and his followers, the pennon was converted into a banner; whereby the knight was raised to the degree of a banneret. 1865 Way in Promp. Parv. 392 note, A pennon was a small flag attached to the lance, whereby the rank of the bearer was known. Wace appropriates it to the knight, and the gonfanon to the baron, but at a later time it seems to have designated the bachelor... In Harl. MS. 358, f. 5, may be seen sketches of all these ensigns; the getone being swallow-tailed, the penon triangular, and charged with the armorial bearing, the former being appropriated to the esquire or gentleman, the latter to the knight. 1882 Cussans Her. (ed. 3) 274 The Pennon..was usually affixed to the end of a lance, from which..it depended; and the Charges thereon were so emblazoned as to appear correctly when the lance was held in a horizontal position. |
b. In wider or vaguer use: Any flag or banner.
| ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 2918 Thane sir Priamous þe prynce, in presens of lordes, Presez to his penowne, and pertly it hentes. 1530 Palsgr. 253/1 Penon a lytell baner in a felde, pennon. 1563 Golding Cæsar vii. (1565) 206 b, Cesar..rolled up his banners, and hid the penons and antesignes of his souldiers. 1599 Shakes. Hen. V, iii. v. 49 Barre Harry England, that sweepes through our Land With Penons painted in the blood of Harflew. 1835 Penny Cycl. III. 408/2 The drapery of a trumpet was in early times, as now, the pennon-quarrée of a banner. 1880 ‘Ouida’ Moths II. 234 The soft wind would blow brightly on the pretty pennons of the Kermesse pavilions. |
c. fig. Applied to things of the shape of a pennon.
| c 1618 Moryson Itin. iv. iv. i. (1903) 332 Rowles baked like dry Fritters, and sett forth with Penons of Cutt paper, in the forme of Apes, Birdes, and like thinges. 1820 Scott Monast. xxiv, A pillar of dark smoke, which..spread its long dusky pennon through the clear ether. 1863 Hawthorne Our Old Home (1879) 158 Little factory villages..with their tall chimneys, and their pennons of black smoke. |
d. Her.
| 1586 J. Ferne Blaz. Gentrie 197 The field is Gewles, a banner of three pennons or. 1688 R. Holme Armoury iii. xviii. (Roxb.) 122/1 He beareth a speare Or, garnished or adorned with a penon or penoncell Argent. |
† 2. a. A knight-bachelor; b. An ensign-bearer.
| 1475 Bk. Noblesse (Roxb.) 15 For he [Ser John Chaundos] had in his retenu M{supl}. ij{supc}. penons armed & x M{supl}. horsmen. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 239 The Duke of Brabant had .xxiiij. Banners and lxxx. Pennons, and in all .vij. thousand men. a 1661 Fuller Worthies, Hartford ii. (1662) 32 Surely he was a man of merit, being Penon or Ensign-bearer to one, Esquire of the body to three successive Kings, and M{supr}. of the Horse to one of their Queens. |
3. The long pointed streamer of a ship; also called pendant and pennant.
| 1627 Drayton Agincourt lxvii, A ship most neatly that was lim'd, In all her Sailes with flags and Pennons trim'd. [In Chalmers's Poets, pennants, whence in Richardson.] 1632 Sherwood, A Penon (or Pendant) in a ship. 1658 Phillips, Penon,..also a streamer in a ship. 1807 J. Barlow Columb. ii. 354 O hapless day!..That saw my wandering pennon mount the tide. 1852 Longfellow Warden of Cinque Ports ii, Flowing flag and rippling pennon. 1884 Mrs. C. Praed Zéro xiv, Yachts with pennons flying lay at anchor in the harbour. |
† 4. Erroneously put for pendant n. 1, a hanging ornament. Obs. rare.
| 1546 Richmond Wills (Surtees) 63 Also I give to my dowghter..a girdle with penons and buckle of silver. |
5. poet. Used by Milton, and others after him, for: A wing, pinion.
| 1667 Milton P.L. ii. 933 Fluttring his pennons vain plumb down he drops Ten thousand fadom deep. Ibid. vii. 441. 1740 Somerville Hobbinol ii. 190 The..Wasp..in the viscous Nectar plung'd, His filmy Pennons struggling flaps in vain. 1796 Coleridge Ode Departing Year Epode ii, I hear the famish'd brood of prey Flap their lank pennons on the groaning wind. 1813 Shelley Q. Mab i. 204 Again the Coursers of the air Unfurled their azure pennons. |