Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Jump to:
  • brand
    brand
    noun
    the kind, grade, or make of a product or service, as indicated by a stamp, trademark, or the like.
  • Brand
    Brand
    noun
    Oscar, 1920–2016, U.S. folk singer, born in Canada.
Synonyms

brand

1 American  
[brand] / brænd /

noun

  1. the kind, grade, or make of a product or service, as indicated by a stamp, trademark, or the like.

    the best brand of coffee.

  2. a mark made by burning or otherwise, to indicate kind, grade, make, ownership, etc.

  3. a mark formerly put upon criminals with a hot iron.

  4. any mark of disgrace; stigma.

    Synonyms:
    taint, blot, spot, stain
  5. branding iron.

  6. a kind or variety of something distinguished by some distinctive characteristic.

    The movie was filled with slapstick—a brand of humor he did not find funny.

  7. a set of distinctive characteristics that establish a recognizable image or identity for a person or thing.

    Building your personal brand will positively impact your career.

  8. a burning or partly burned piece of wood.

  9. Archaic. a sword.


verb (used with object)

  1. to label or mark with or as if with a brand.

  2. to mark with disgrace or infamy; stigmatize.

  3. to impress indelibly.

    The plane crash was branded on her mind.

  4. to give a brand name to.

    branded merchandise.

  5. to promote as a brand or brand name.

idioms

  1. on brand, in keeping with the distinctive characteristics that establish a recognizable identity for a person, product, or thing: He says he wants to be more compassionate, but that’s not really on brand for him.

    The hotel’s interactive website is so on brand.

    He says he wants to be more compassionate, but that’s not really on brand for him.

Brand 2 American  
[brand] / brænd /

noun

  1. Oscar, 1920–2016, U.S. folk singer, born in Canada.

  2. a male given name.


brand 1 British  
/ brænd /

noun

  1. a particular product or a characteristic that serves to identify a particular product

  2. a trade name or trademark

  3. a particular kind or variety

    he had his own brand of humour

  4. an identifying mark made, usually by burning, on the skin of animals or (formerly) slaves or criminals, esp as a proof of ownership

  5. an iron heated and used for branding animals, etc

  6. a mark of disgrace or infamy; stigma

    he bore the brand of a coward

  7. a burning or burnt piece of wood, as in a fire

  8. archaic

    1. a flaming torch

    2. a sword

  9. a fungal disease of garden plants characterized by brown spots on the leaves, caused by the rust fungus Puccinia arenariae

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

  1. to label, burn, or mark with or as with a brand

  2. to place indelibly in the memory

    the scene of slaughter was branded in their minds

  3. to denounce; stigmatize

    they branded him a traitor

  4. to give a product a distinctive identity by means of characteristic design, packaging, etc

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Brand 2 British  
/ brænd /

noun

  1. Russell , born 1975, English comedian and television presenter

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of brand

First recorded before 950; Middle English, Old English: “burning, a burning piece of wood, torch, sword”; cognate with Dutch brand, German Brand, Old Norse brandr; akin to burn 1

Explanation

If your friend buys her jeans based on the brand, it means that the name on the label of her pants is very important to her. A brand is a product name. The cereal aisle at the grocery store is a good place to see how many different brands there are of the same product. A company name, or the name it invents for a particular item or service, is a brand. Another kind of brand is the verb that means to mark or name something in a negative way. If you brand your classmate as a bully, you accuse him of bullying and expose his behavior to other people.

Keep Reading on Vocabulary.com

Vocabulary lists containing brand

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

You are part of a “term tsunami,” as deemed by Financial Brand, which analyzes the banking market.

From MarketWatch • May 11, 2026

Brand believes the painting had been plundered by Hermann Goering, one of the most powerful figures in the Nazi Party, when Goudstikker fled for Britain in 1940.

From BBC • May 11, 2026

An artwork plundered by the Nazis from the world-famous Goudstikker collection has surfaced in the family of a notorious SS collaborator in the Netherlands, Dutch art detective Arthur Brand told AFP Monday.

From Barron's • May 11, 2026

In 2026, Financial Brand says, some “$2.37 trillion in bank CDs may move around the banking system this year.”

From MarketWatch • May 11, 2026

Brand and Cooke hated each other for a reason that I was never able to determine, and they spent a good part of each day quarreling.

From "Black Boy" by Richard Wright