badge

From Middle English badge, bagge, bage, bagy, whose ultimate etymology is uncertain. Possibly from Anglo-Norman bage or Late Latin bagea, bagia (“sign, emblem”); but possibly the Anglo-Norman word is derived from an earlier, unattested English word. Cognate with Scots bagie, badgie, bawgy (“badge”).

• (Received Pronunciation, UK) IPA^(key): /bædʒ/
• (General American, US) IPA^(key): /bædʒ/
• Rhymes: -ædʒ

badge (plural badges)

1. A distinctive mark, token, sign, emblem or cognizance, worn on one's clothing, as an insignia of some rank, or of the membership of an organization.

   the badge of a society; the badge of a policeman

   • Prescott

     Tax gatherers, recognized by their official badges.

2. A small nameplate, identifying the wearer, and often giving additional information.
3. A card, sometimes with a barcode or magnetic strip, granting access to a certain area.
4. Something characteristic; a mark; a token.
   • 158? or 159?, Shakespeare, Titus Andronicus, Act I, Scene 2:

     Sweet mercy is nobility's true badge.

5. (obsolete, thieves' cant) A brand on the hand of a thief, etc.

   He has got his badge, and piked: He was burned in the hand, and is at liberty.

6. (nautical) A carved ornament on the stern of a vessel, containing a window or the representation of one.
7. (heraldry) A distinctive mark worn by servants, retainers, and followers of royalty or nobility, who, being beneath the rank of gentlemen, have no right to armorial bearings.
8. (graphical user interface) A small overlay on an icon that shows additional information about that item, such as the number of new alerts or messages.
9. (Internet) An icon or emblem awarded to a user for some achievement.

   When you have checked in to the site from ten different cities, you unlock the Traveller badge.

• See Thesaurus:badge

• badge bunny
• badger

badge (third-person singular simple present badges, present participle badging, simple past and past participle badged)

1. (transitive) To mark or distinguish with a badge.

   The television was badged as 'GE', but wasn't made by them.

2. (transitive) To show a badge to.

   He calmed down a lot when the policeman badged him.

3. (transitive) To enter a restricted area by showing one's badge.
   • (Can we date this quote?)
     unknown, David Simon, Homicide, →ISBN, page 118:

     Worden and James walk [...] to the [...] Courthouse [...], where they badge their way past sheriff's deputies and take the elevator to the third floor.

   • 2003, Joseph Wambaugh, Fire Lover, page 146:

     And Patterson didn't hear that Jack Egger, the studio's director of security, said he'd seen John Orr badge his way through the pedestrian gate sometime before 4:00 pm, when the fire was still raging, [...]

   • 2004, Sergei Hoteko, On The Fringe Of History, page 135:

     Our regional commissioner, his assistant commissioner and our district director, along with their wives, were hoofing it to the rotunda. Apparently they didn't try and badge their way through.

   • 2006, David Pollino, Bill Pennington, Tony Bradley, Himanshu Dwivedi, Hacker's challenge 3 (page 338)

     Aaron badged into the data center and escorted Geoff inside the large room with its many blinking green lights.

• badge in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• The Manual of Heraldry, Fifth Edition, by Anonymous, London, 1862, online at

• bedag, begad, debag

Borrowed from English badge

• IPA^(key): /badʒ/
• Homophones: badgent, badges

badge m (plural badges)

1. identity badge

badge

1. first-person singular present indicative of badger
2. third-person singular present indicative of badger
3. first-person singular present subjunctive of badger
4. first-person singular present subjunctive of badger
5. second-person singular imperative of badger

• “badge” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).