brand

[brand]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR brand ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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.

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.

verb (used with object)

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.

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

Related formsbrand·er, nounbrand·less, adjectivenon·brand, adjectivere·brand, verb (used with object)

Synonyms for brand

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR brand ON THESAURUS.COM

4. stain, spot, blot, taint.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for branding

stigmatize, taint, disgrace, mark

Examples from the Web for branding

Contemporary Examples of branding

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 More
Kevin Fallon
December 19, 2014
For OK Go the music video is medium for personal creativity, hype, and branding.
OK Go Is Helping Redefine the Music Video For the Internet Age
Lauren Schwartzberg
December 15, 2014
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 Claims
Marlow 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 Hit
Marlow Stern
October 7, 2014
Roberts has staked his survival on branding Orman with the label most likely to unsettle undecided Kansans.
A Loss by Pat Roberts in Kansas? Actually, Not So Bizarre
Jeff Greenfield
October 3, 2014

Historical Examples of branding

It did not take long—as Weary had said, it was very much like branding calves.
Chip, of the Flying U
B. M. Bower
Then there were the fenced-in pastures and the branding corrals.
The Twins of Suffering Creek
Ridgwell Cullum
It was like beholding a dainty flower in the grime and brutality of the branding pen.
Hidden Water
Dane Coolidge
Branding in some instances appears to have been a mere farce.
Bygone Punishments
William Andrews
When these five things came together, it meant that somebody was branding.
Oh, You Tex!
William Macleod Raine

British Dictionary definitions for branding

Brand

noun

Russell, born 1975, English comedian and television presenter

brand

noun

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

verb (tr)

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

Derived Formsbranding, nounbrander, noun

Word Origin for brand

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

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.

brand

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.