Other forms: badges
A badge is a small sign worn to show who you are. Wear a badge, a police badge, a name badge.
It says membership or authority at a glance, which is why forging one is a serious offence. Badge of honour means something borne with pride, often something others meant as an insult. Note that the origin of the word is unknown, which is unusual for something so old and common.
1nounbadgeA small sign worn to show who you are.
“Every visitor has to wear a badge with their name on it.”
badge is a sign.
Middle English badge comes from Anglo-Norman or Medieval Latin, and its origin beyond that is unknown.
Proto-Indo-European
*bʰewgʰ-
Medieval Latin
bagea
Anglo-Norman
bage
Middle English
badge
English, today
badge
Built from
From Middle English badge, bagge, bage, bagy, from Anglo-Norman bage or Medieval Latin bagea, bagia (“sign, emblem”), of unknown origin. Possibly derived from Medieval Latin baga (“ring”), from Old Saxon bāg, bōg (“ring, ornament”), from Proto-Germanic baugaz (“ring, bracelet, armband”); or possibly the Anglo-Norman word is derived from an earlier, unattested English word (compare Old English bēag (“ring, bracelet, collar, crown”). Cognate with Scots bagie, badgie, bawgy (“badge”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA