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gonfalon

[gon-fuh-luh n]
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noun
  1. a banner suspended from a crossbar, often with several streamers or tails.
  2. a standard, especially one used by the medieval Italian republics.
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Origin of gonfalon

1585–95; < Italian gonfalone < Middle French gonfalon, gonfanon < Germanic; see gonfanon
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for gonfalon

Historical Examples

  • Down are gone both cap and feather,   Lance and gonfalon are down!

    The Bon Gaultier Ballads

    William Edmonstoune Aytoun

  • The people were drawn together under the Gonfalon of justice and the ensigns of the companies of the artisans.

  • Gonfalon, gon′fa-lon, n. an ensign or standard with streamers—also Gon′fanon.

  • The galley was driven ashore and the old fellow leapt on to the beach, the gonfalon being borne before him.

  • The Doge himself, seventy-two years and all, reared his gonfalon of gold in the Piazza and decided to lead the armament.

British Dictionary definitions for gonfalon

gonfalon

gonfanon (ˈɡɒnfənən)

noun
  1. a banner hanging from a crossbar, used esp by certain medieval Italian republics or in ecclesiastical processions
  2. a battle flag suspended crosswise on a staff, usually having a serrated edge to give the appearance of streamers
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Word Origin

C16: from Old Italian gonfalone, from Old French gonfalon, of Germanic origin; compare Old English gūthfana war banner, Old Norse gunnfani
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for gonfalon

1590s, variant of Middle English gonfanon (c.1300), from Old French gonfanon "knight's pennon" (12c.), from Old High German guntfano "battle flag," from Proto-Germanic *gunthja- "war," from PIE *gwhen- "to strike, kill" (see bane) + *fano "banner" (cf. Gothic fana "cloth"). Cognate with Old English guþfana, Old Norse gunnfani. Change of -n- to -l- by dissimilation.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper