brand
[brand]
- kind, grade, or make, as indicated by a stamp, trademark, or the like: the best brand of coffee.
- a mark made by burning or otherwise, to indicate kind, grade, make, ownership, etc.
- a mark formerly put upon criminals with a hot iron.
- any mark of disgrace; stigma.
- branding iron.
- 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.
- a burning or partly burned piece of wood.
- Archaic. a sword.
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- to label or mark with or as if with a brand.
- to mark with disgrace or infamy; stigmatize.
- to impress indelibly: The plane crash was branded on her mind.
- to give a brand name to: branded merchandise.
- to promote as a brand name.
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Origin of brand
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 burn1
Synonyms
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comDictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for branding
Contemporary Examples
Maybe it was the way that branding took on a life of its own.
The Biggest Bombs of 2014: ‘Sex Tape,’ Mariah Carey’s Vocals, ‘How I Met Your Mother’ and MoreKevin Fallon
December 19, 2014
For OK Go the music video is medium for personal creativity, hype, and branding.
How her role became more “maternal rather than marital,” and branding Hawking an “all-powerful emperor” and “masterly puppeteer.”
The Other Side of Stephen Hawking: Strippers, Aliens, and Disturbing Abuse ClaimsMarlow Stern
November 6, 2014
The contrarians of the world went full Oliver Stone on the innocuous tune, branding it “problematic” and “anti-feminist.”
‘All About That Bass’ Singer Meghan Trainor On Haters and Her Polarizing (and Unlikely) No. 1 HitMarlow Stern
October 7, 2014
Roberts has staked his survival on branding Orman with the label most likely to unsettle undecided Kansans.
Historical Examples
It did not take long—as Weary had said, it was very much like branding calves.
Chip, of the Flying UB. M. Bower
Then there were the fenced-in pastures and the branding corrals.
The Twins of Suffering CreekRidgwell Cullum
It was like beholding a dainty flower in the grime and brutality of the branding pen.
Hidden WaterDane Coolidge
Branding in some instances appears to have been a mere farce.
Bygone PunishmentsWilliam Andrews
When these five things came together, it meant that somebody was branding.
Oh, You Tex!William Macleod Raine
Brand
- Russell, born 1975, English comedian and television presenter
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brand
- a particular product or a characteristic that serves to identify a particular product
- a trade name or trademark
- a particular kind or varietyhe had his own brand of humour
- an identifying mark made, usually by burning, on the skin of animals or (formerly) slaves or criminals, esp as a proof of ownership
- an iron heated and used for branding animals, etc
- a mark of disgrace or infamy; stigmahe bore the brand of a coward
- a burning or burnt piece of wood, as in a fire
- archaic, or poetic
- a flaming torch
- a sword
- a fungal disease of garden plants characterized by brown spots on the leaves, caused by the rust fungus Puccinia arenariae
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- to label, burn, or mark with or as with a brand
- to place indelibly in the memorythe scene of slaughter was branded in their minds
- to denounce; stigmatizethey branded him a traitor
- to give a product a distinctive identity by means of characteristic design, packaging, etc
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Word Origin
Old English brand-, related to Old Norse brandr, Old High German brant; see burn 1
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
Word Origin and History for branding
brand
n.
Old English brand, brond "fire, flame; firebrand, piece of burning wood, torch," and (poetic) "sword," from Proto-Germanic *brandaz (cf. Old Norse brandr, Old High German brant, Old Frisian brond "firebrand, blade of a sword," German brand "fire"), from root *bran-/*bren- (see burn (v.)). Meaning "identifying mark made by a hot iron" (1550s) broadened by 1827 to "a particular make of goods." Brand name is from 1922.
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brand
v.
c.1400, "to brand, cauterize; stigmatize," originally of criminal marks or cauterized wounds, from brand (n.). As a means of marking property, 1580s; figuratively from c.1600, often in a bad sense, with the criminal marking in mind. Related: Branded; branding.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper