sb. and a. Also 7 vexiliarie. [ad. L. vexillāri-us standard-bearer, etc., f. vexillum standard, VEXILLUM.]
A. sb. a. One of the oldest class of veterans in the Roman army, serving under a special standard. b. A Roman standard-bearer.
1591. Savile, Tacitus, Hist., II. xviii. 63. Three Prætorian cohortes, and a thousand Vexillaries. Ibid., C. 111. With the Vexillaries of the three British Legions.
1611. Speed, Hist. Gt. Brit., VI. xi. § 7. 84. The Vexillaries of three British Legions followed Vitellius in his Expedition against the Illyrian Army.
1656. Blount, Glossogr.
1793. A. Murphy, Tacitus (1805), V. 220. In the left wing were placed the vexillaries of the thirteenth legion.
1872. Tennyson, Gareth & Lynette, 1172. In letters like to those the vexillary Hath left crag-carven o’er the streaming Gelt.
B. adj. † 1. Vexillary soldier, = prec. a. Obs.–1
1598. Grenewey, Tacitus, Ann., I. ix. (1622), 26. Certaine vexiliarie souldiers which continued vnder ensignes, and were placed for a guard to the countrey.
2. Bot. Of estivation: (see quot.).
1832. Lindley, Introd. Bot., 411. Vexillary, when one piece is much larger than the others, and is folded over them, they being arranged face to face.
