STANDARD, n. [G., sort, kind.]

1. An ensign of war; a staff with a flag or colors. The troops repair to their standard. The royal standard of Great Britain is a flag, in which the imperial ensigns of England, Scotland and Ireland are quartered with the armorial bearings of Hanover. His armies, in the following day, / On those fair plains their standards proud display. – Fairfax.
2. That which is established by sovereign power as a rule or measure by which others are to be adjusted. Thus the Winchester bushel is the standard of measures in Great Britain, and is adopted in the United States as their standard. So of weights and of lineal measure.
3. That which is established as a rule or model, by the authority of public opinion, or by respectable opinions, or by custom or general consent; as, writings which are admitted to be the standard of style and taste. Homer's Iliad is the standard of heroic poetry. Demosthenes and Cicero the standards of oratory. Of modern eloquence, we have an excellent standard in the speeches of Lord Chatham. Addison's writings furnish a good standard of pure, chaste, and elegant English style. It is not an easy thing to erect a standard of taste.
4. In coinage, the proportion of weight of fine metal and alloy established by authority. The coins of England and of the United States are of nearly the same standard. By the present standard of the coinage, sixty-two shillings is coined out of one pound weight of silver. – Arbuthnot.
5. A standing tree or stem; a tree not supported or attached to a wall. Plant fruit of all sorts and standard, mural, or shrubs which lose their leaf. – Evelyn.
6. In ship-building, an inverted knee placed upon the deck instead of beneath it, with its vertical branch turned upward from that which lies horizontally. – Mar. Dict.
7. In botany, the upper petal or banner of a papilionaceous corol. – Martyn.

1. A flag; colors; a banner; especially, a national or other ensign.
   
   

   His armies, in the following day,
   On those fair plains their standards proud display. Fairfax.

2. Being, affording, or according with, a standard for comparison and judgment; as, standard time; standard weights and measures; a standard authority as to nautical terms; standard gold or silver.
3. That which is established by authority as a rule for the measure of quantity, extent, value, or quality; esp., the original specimen weight or measure sanctioned by government, as the standard pound, gallon, or yard.
4. Hence: Having a recognized and permanent value; as, standard works in history; standard authors.
5. That which is established as a rule or model by authority, custom, or general consent; criterion; test.
   
   

   The court, which used to be the standard of property and correctness of speech. Swift.

   A disposition to preserve, and an ability to improve, taken together, would be my standard of a statesman. Burke.

6. Not supported by, or fastened to, a wall; as, standard fruit trees.
   
   
   (b)
7. The proportion of weights of fine metal and alloy established by authority.
   
   

   By the present standard of the coinage, sixty- two shillings is coined out of one pound weight of silver. Arbuthnot.

8. A tree of natural size supported by its own stem, and not dwarfed by grafting on the stock of a smaller species nor trained upon a wall or trellis.
   
   

   In France part of their gardens is laid out for flowers, others for fruits; some standards, some against walls. Sir W. Temple.

9. The upper petal or banner of a papilionaceous corolla.
10. An upright support, as one of the poles of a scaffold] any upright in framing.
11. An inverted knee timber placed upon the deck instead of beneath it, with its vertical branch turned upward from that which lies horizontally.
12. The sheth of a plow.
13. A large drinking cup.
    
    
    Greene.

    Standard bearer, an officer of an army, company, or troop, who bears a standard; -- commonly called color sergeantor color bearer; hence, the leader of any organization; as, the standard bearer of a political party.