badge Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun an emblem (a small piece of plastic or cloth or metal) that signifies your status (rank or membership or affiliation etc.)
    • they checked everyone's badge before letting them in
  2. noun any feature that is regarded as a sign of status (a particular power or quality or rank)
    • wearing a tie was regarded as a badge of respectability
  3. verb put a badge on
    • The workers here must be badged

WordNet

Badge noun
Etymology
LL. bagea, bagia, sign, prob. of German origin; cf. AS. beág, beáh, bracelet, collar, crown, OS bg- in comp., AS. bgan to bow, bend, G. biegen. See Bow to bend.
Definitions
  1. A distinctive mark, token, sign, or cognizance, worn on the person; as, the badge of a society; the badge of a policeman. "Tax gatherers, recognized by their official badges. " Prescott.
  2. Something characteristic; a mark; a token.
    Sweet mercy is nobility's true badge. Shak.
  3. (Naut.) A carved ornament on the stern of a vessel, containing a window or the representation of one.
Badge transitive verb
Definitions
  1. To mark or distinguish with a badge.

Webster 1913