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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

A trained ballerina, Bardot helped popularise the Repetto brand after asking the company to make her a version for everyday use.

From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026

The Volkswagen brand reported a 2.4% margin for the same period.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 20, 2026

Into the breach stepped Ashkan Karbasfrooshan, a Montreal technology entrepreneur and founder of Watch Mojo, a pop culture brand with 26 million subscribers on YouTube.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026

The move follows the coffee chain’s other recent collaborations with Hello Kitty, the clothing and accessories brand Roller Rabbit and the fashion brand Dandy.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 19, 2026

In spite of my brand, a pulse of panic grabs me.

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

But it wasn't all bad news for Sony's "Spider-Man: Brand New Day."

From Barron's ● Sep. 13, 2026

While paintings are still taken, they're harder to sell, so around 10 years ago, thieves began shifting to goods that are easier to get rid of, Brand says.

From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026

Crowder was arrested just after 3:30 p.m. on the 100 block of South Brand Boulevard, Glendale’s main financial and commercial thoroughfare, according to Sgt.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026

“As in the first quarter, growth was primarily driven by the positive development of exports,” said Ruth Brand, president of the Federal Statistical Office.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026

Brand became convinced that gold could somehow be distilled from human urine.

From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson

The automaker is seeking to protect its brand integrity and prevent dealers from cheapening the image of its brands with fire-sale tactics.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 20, 2026

According to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, Chinese-owned brands accounted for about 15% of new car registrations in the UK in 2025 and 2026.

From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026

Additionally, social media has made it easier for items to go viral, and brands have become more savvy about what might resonate with consumers.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 19, 2026

Clark agrees the brand has "homed in on experts in their craft, rather than partnering with a million different people" like other fashion brands have made the mistake of doing.

From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026

Then I found myself another shirt, made by one of the fancy brands.

From "When I Was the Greatest" by Jason Reynolds

The branded, non-alcoholic drink Butterbeer was unaffected by the ruling.

From BBC ● Sep. 18, 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

By 19, he had been branded the head of a “counterrevolutionary clique.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026

A slowdown in PayPal’s branded checkout and rising competition from rivals like Apple Pay and Google Pay are among PayPal’s biggest challenges, analysts and company executives have said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026

For this he is branded a turncoat, within two years of the end of the war is being referred to by Southern newspapers as “the most hated man in the South.”

From "The Killer Angels: The Classic Novel of the Civil War" by Michael Shaara

It had a DJ booth and the branding “House of OB” behind it, according to pictures of the event.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026

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

Radburn said it was "remarkable" to find records of the branding "buried in a very nondescript sounding volume: 'The Register of Instruments'".

From BBC ● Sep. 14, 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

We conducted focus groups to test-market our branding for the project, enlisting the pro bono help of PR professionals to fine-tune the message.

From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama

Related Words

• idle
• untapped
• vacant