label

American  

[lay-buhl] / ˈleɪ bəl /

noun

• labels
  plural

1. a slip of paper, cloth, or other material, marked or inscribed, for attachment to something to indicate its manufacturer, nature, ownership, destination, etc..

   The medicine bottle should have a label on it with the dosing instructions.

2. a short word or phrase descriptive of a person, group, intellectual movement, etc..

   The label “progressive” can be used to describe many different political movements.

3. a word or phrase indicating that what follows belongs in a particular category or classification.

   The label “Formal” marks words used in academic or business contexts.

4. Architecture. a molding or dripstone over a door or window, especially one that extends horizontally across the top of the opening and vertically downward for a certain distance at the sides.

5. 1. a brand or trademark under which something, such as clothing or music, is manufactured and sold.

      She records under her own label.

      Chanel has launched a new label for ready-to-wear couture.

   2. the manufacturer using such a label.

      All the big-name labels will have a runway show during Fashion Week.

      Major labels are feeling the economic crunch and are no longer signing small acts or individual musicians.

6. Heraldry. a narrow horizontal strip with a number of downward extensions of rectangular or dovetail form, usually placed in chief as the cadency mark of an eldest son.

7. Obsolete. a strip or narrow piece of anything.

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verb (used with object)

• labels,
  present (3rd person singular)
• labeled,
  past participle,  past
• labelled,
  past participle,  past (especially British)
• labeling,
  present participle
• labelling
  present participle (especially British)

1. to affix a label to; mark with a label.

   The drawers have all been labeled with their contents.

2. to designate or describe by or on a label.

   The bottle was labeled poison.

3. to put in a certain class; classify.

   It's easy to label someone as difficult and stop trying, but curiosity and compassion can often get you further.

4. Chemistry. Also to incorporate a radioactive or heavy isotope into (a molecule) in order to make traceable.

label British  

/ ˈleɪbəl /

noun

1. a piece of paper, card, or other material attached to an object to identify it or give instructions or details concerning its ownership, use, nature, destination, etc; tag

2. a brief descriptive phrase or term given to a person, group, school of thought, etc

   the label "Romantic" is applied to many different kinds of poetry

3. a word or phrase heading a piece of text to indicate or summarize its contents

4. a trademark or company or brand name on certain goods, esp, formerly, on gramophone records

5. another name for dripstone

6. heraldry a charge consisting of a horizontal line across the chief of a shield with three or more pendants: the charge of an eldest son

7. computing a group of characters, such as a number or a word, appended to a particular statement in a program to allow its unique identification

8. chem a radioactive element used in a compound to trace the mechanism of a chemical reaction

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verb

1. to fasten a label to

2. to mark with a label

3. to describe or classify in a word or phrase

   to label someone a liar

4. to make (one or more atoms in a compound) radioactive, for use in determining the mechanism of a reaction

label Scientific  

/ lā′bəl /

1. See tracer

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• labeler
  noun
• labeller
  noun
• prelabel
  noun
• relabel
  verb (used with object)
• nonlabeling
  adjective
• nonlabelling
  adjective
• unlabeled
  adjective
• unlabelled
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• labels
  plural

Participles

• labeling
  present
• labelling
  present
• labeled
  past
• labelled
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• label
  simple
• labels
  simple
• have labeled
  perfect
• have labelled
  perfect
• has labeled
  perfect
• has labelled
  perfect
• am labeling
  progressive
• am labelling
  progressive
• are labeling
  progressive
• are labelling
  progressive
• is labeling
  progressive
• is labelling
  progressive
• have been labeling
  perfect progressive
• have been labelling
  perfect progressive
• has been labeling
  perfect progressive
• has been labelling
  perfect progressive

Past

• labeled
  simple
• labelled
  simple
• had labeled
  perfect
• had labelled
  perfect
• was labeling
  progressive
• was labelling
  progressive
• were labeling
  progressive
• were labelling
  progressive
• had been labeling
  perfect progressive
• had been labelling
  perfect progressive

Future

• will label
  simple
• will have labeled
  perfect
• will have labelled
  perfect
• will be labeling
  progressive
• will be labelling
  progressive
• will have been labeling
  perfect progressive
• will have been labelling
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of label

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English, from Middle French: “ribbon,” perhaps from Germanic; cf. lap ¹

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Explanation

The saying “labels are for jars not people” means it’s OK to put a description on a jar so you know what’s inside (a label), but it’s not okay to judge people by attaching a label, or description to them, such as "nerd," "jock," or "burnout." Label is a busy word. It refers to the paper or identifying marks on a jar that tells you something about what’s inside the jar. Put such an identifier on the jar, and you label it. Related to that is a judgment about someone or something, a label. When you call yourself a superstar, you label yourself. Finally, you can use label as a short form of recording label, a company that produces musical recordings.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

label labels labeled labelled labeling labelling

Geese were always an odd band to pin to anxieties about fabricated culture — if a label had resources and abilities to manufacture stars, why not do it for a 100x-hyperscaling pop act instead?

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026

But the number on the label does not necessarily match the calories your body actually absorbs.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 12, 2026

It might just sound like a new way to call someone an idiot, but the NPC label has much deeper, scarier implications.

From Salon ● Oct. 12, 2026

In 1988, he founded Luaka Bop, a record label whose influential compilations have introduced American audiences to lesser-known classics of world pop and psychedelia, such as Brazil’s Os Mutantes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026

This system depends on the prison label, not prison time.

From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander

Despite the mounting scandals, some in the book trade view the idea of labels with scepticism.

From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026

The judge, I'Ashea Myles, ordered that "anything that was in the actual room needs to be preserved and maintained," including IV lines and syringes, as well as waste, like packaging, inserts, and labels.

From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026

Our job was to sort through the massive mailer box of padded envelopes and bubble mailers that came in from record labels, big, small and in-between.

From Salon ● Oct. 4, 2026

For labels like Brunello Cucinelli that already sell most of their goods to the ultrarich, things will be business as usual.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 3, 2026

The quill strokes seemed slightly less precise, the labels messier.

From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray

One canister on a sidewalk in Echo Park was labeled “cherry apple.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026

The products, which are often labeled as “for research use only” or “not for human consumption,” are powdered substances that must be reconstituted with bacteriostatic water and injected.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026

Most of the products a family may look at are labeled as “child protection,” and that brings home the role reversals involved in parenting your parents.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 6, 2026

Both Gershkovich and his employer vehemently denied he was a spy and the US State Department labeled him "wrongfully detained."

From Barron's ● Sep. 30, 2026

I touch the one labeled Max, and when I hear Ilse’s voice outside the door, I hurry to my bedroom, and tuck it safe underneath the mattress.

From "The Light in Hidden Places" by Sharon Cameron

Viewed by many in England as there for the taking in last winter's Ashes despite a 4-1 win, they are also labelled too old by many observers at home.

From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026

Publishers sign up to the scheme for a fee, and can then request to get their authors' books labelled with the Books By People mark.

From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026

The glasses are divisive, and have been labelled by some as "pervert glasses" because they can be used to film covertly.

From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026

Earlier this year, when she was a backbench MP and not a government minister, Angela Rayner, herself a former care worker, labelled the proposals "un-British".

From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026

To be labelled as the friend of a man who said that he didn’t like civilization—said it openly and, of all people, to the Controller—it was terrible.

From "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley

Today, consumers and companies face a patchwork of state programs and conflicting labeling requirements.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026

Additional experiments using isotopic labeling and neutron scattering showed how the structure of the starting polymer influences the resulting fuel.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 21, 2026

Manufacturers counter with front-of-the-package labeling that highlights added vitamins and minerals or the “heart healthy” benefits of supplied fiber.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026

It’s also usually the manufacturer’s responsibility to ensure everything on those products’ labeling is accurate.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 16, 2026

I even had people who were the victims of stereotyping describe the dangers of labeling groups of people.

From "The Freedom Writers Diary" by The Freedom Writers

Several labelling schemes, including from Britain, France and Germany, were being showcased at the world's biggest book industry fair in Frankfurt this week, where the challenges posed by AI were hotly debated.

From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026

"For clarity, the former employee's contract was terminated for reasons entirely unrelated to food labelling."

From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026

And even those who don't like the direction of travel are labelling their opinions as a desire to be helpful, they're not trying to criticise the boss.

From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2026

But shortly after Princes launched its new product as "jack mackerel", the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs changed its rules to permit the labelling.

From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026

The living-room; what a good job of labelling that was now.

From "Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury

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Related Words

• company
• design
• logo
• number
• stamp
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• tag
• trademark

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