n. [ OE. banere, OF. baniere, F. bannière, bandière, fr. LL. baneria, banderia, fr. bandum banner, fr. OHG. bant band, strip of cloth; cf. bindan to bind, Goth. bandwa, bandwo, a sign. See Band, n. ] 1. A kind of flag attached to a spear or pike by a crosspiece, and used by a chief as his standard in battle. [ 1913 Webster ]

Hang out our banners on the outward walls. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A large piece of silk or other cloth, with a device or motto, extended on a crosspiece, and borne in a procession, or suspended in some conspicuous place. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Any flag or standard; as, the star-spangled banner. [ 1913 Webster ]

Banner fish (Zool.), a large fish of the genus Histiophorus, of the Swordfish family, having a broad bannerlike dorsal fin; the sailfish. One species (Histiophorus Americanus) inhabits the North Atlantic. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Furnished with, or bearing, banners. “A bannered host.” Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.[ OE. baneret, OF. baneret, F. banneret; properly a dim. of OF. baniere. See Banner. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. Originally, a knight who led his vassals into the field under his own banner; -- commonly used as a title of rank. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A title of rank, conferred for heroic deeds, and hence, an order of knighthood; also, the person bearing such title or rank. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The usual mode of conferring the rank on the field of battle was by cutting or tearing off the point of the pennon or pointed flag on the spear of the candidate, thereby making it a banner. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A civil officer in some Swiss cantons. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A small banner. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A banderole; esp. a banner displayed at a funeral procession and set over the tomb. See Banderole. [ 1913 Webster ]