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• 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.

brand

¹ American  

[brand] / brænd /

noun

• brands
  plural

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.

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verb (used with object)

• brands,
  present (3rd person singular)
• branded,
  past participle,  past
• branding
  present participle

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.

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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

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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

Brand ² British  

/ brænd /

noun

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

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• brander
  noun
• branding
  noun
• rebrand
  verb (used with object)
• brandless
  adjective
• nonbrand
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• brands
  plural

Participles

• branding
  present
• branded
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• brand
  simple
• brands
  simple
• have branded
  perfect
• has branded
  perfect
• am branding
  progressive
• are branding
  progressive
• is branding
  progressive
• have been branding
  perfect progressive
• has been branding
  perfect progressive

Past

• branded
  simple
• had branded
  perfect
• was branding
  progressive
• were branding
  progressive
• had been branding
  perfect progressive

Future

• will brand
  simple
• will have branded
  perfect
• will be branding
  progressive
• will have been branding
  perfect progressive

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

brand Brand brands branded branding

Samsung is reported to be working on a collaboration with the upmarket glasses brand Warby Parker.

From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026

“They could change this strategy but would risk losing brand equity.”

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 23, 2026

The storied British car brand, which is owned by Volkswagen VOW3 -3.08%decrease; down pointing triangle , unveiled the sport-utility vehicle at an event in London on Wednesday.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026

Fielder, whose brand of cringe comedy blurs the line between fiction and reality in “Nathan for You” and “The Rehearsal,” is making the jump from TV to his feature directorial debut.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 23, 2026

“With this brand, you will be of a gang too. The mangy, scraggy, sorry gang of Beast Riders.”

From "Beast Rider" by Tony Johnston & María Elena Fontanot de Rhoads

When people are more dissociated, “they may describe feeling numb, being on ‘autopilot,’ ” Brand says.

From Slate ● Sep. 23, 2026

In addition to being in a real-life romance, the two also co-starred in “Spider-Man: Far From Home” and their latest project, “Spider-Man: Brand New Day.”

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 23, 2026

And even if a museum is secured well, thieves could still come in armed, Brand says, adding that it would be impractical to put police in galleries.

From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026

“There’s just a bevy of cases that say you can’t just go around the Senate rules or the House rules when you put somebody in contempt,” Brand said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026

Suddenly Brand ran to me with a stricken face.

From "Black Boy" by Richard Wright

Are brands happy about consumers’ reorientation toward shoes, to keep them in the family even if they can’t afford the handbags?

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026

“Looking ahead, our focus remains the same: operate our restaurants at a high level, strengthen guest loyalty, invest in our people and brands, and deploy capital in ways that support long-term shareholder value,” Cardenas said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026

The company has also been improving its virtual reality headsets and smart glasses, partnering with celebrities such as Kylie Jenner and brands like Ray-Ban and Oakley to market them.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2026

The vineyard has also seen a drop in its bulk sales to larger U.S. wine brands, which usually make up about 90% of its business.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 23, 2026

“They’re brands, Piper. Luxury brands. To survive at Chumley, you need to have the right tags on your clothes.”

From "Shine!" by J.J. and Chris Grabenstein

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has branded his company’s AI strategy as a quest for “personal superintelligence” — technology that knows the user deeply and is highly customizable.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 21, 2026

In a public confrontation with Reform UK home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf in Portsmouth on Monday, Thomas complained that Nigel Farage had branded his Dover protest "disgusting".

From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026

Tirzepatide, commonly branded as Mounjaro, was added this year.

From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2026

The company aims to drum up intrigue this week by placing oversize pink luggage trunks across New York City before sailing a pink branded boat around Manhattan.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026

Most people branded felons, in fact, are not sentenced to prison.

From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander

A CNN spokesperson also objected to the "unauthorized" use of the network's branding, saying the videos "are not CNN content and have no affiliation with CNN."

From Barron's ● Sep. 14, 2026

The Georgian investment firms signed a branding deal with the Trump family company in May for the 70-story tower.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 13, 2026

That employees at a company with a reputation for AI safety are raising alarms could lead investors to question its branding, Martin said, adding it’s important to remember the posts don’t represent all employees.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 11, 2026

The trailers are described as white tri-axle curtain side trailers with branding for logistics company GXO on curtains and rear doors.

From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026

A second man stuck two branding irons into the metal basket to heat them up.

From "Chains" by Laurie Halse Anderson

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