watermark

American  

[waw-ter-mahrk, wot-er-] / ˈwɔ tərˌmɑrk, ˈwɒt ər- /

noun

1. a mark indicating the height to which water rises or has risen, as in a river or inlet.

2. water line.

3. a figure or design impressed in some paper during manufacture, visible when the paper is held to the light.

4. Computers. Also digital watermark a small piece of code or identifiable data sequence embedded into a digital file, usually an image or an audio or video file, as a traceable marker of origin or ownership.

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verb (used with object)

1. to mark (paper or a digital file) with a watermark.

2. to impress (a design, pattern, etc.), as a watermark.

3. Computers. to place (a digital identifier) into a file.

watermark British  

/ ˈwɔːtəˌmɑːk /

noun

1. a distinguishing mark impressed on paper during manufacture, visible when the paper is held up to the light

2. another word for water line water line

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verb

1. to mark (paper) with a watermark

Other Word Forms

• unwatermarked adjective

Etymology

Origin of watermark

First recorded in 1625–35; water + mark ¹

Example Sentences

AFP fact-checkers ran the photo through AI detection tools and found it contained a SynthID, an invisible watermark meant to identify images made with Google AI.

From Barron's

AFP detected a SynthID, an invisible watermark meant to identify images created using Google AI.

From Barron's

According to Google's SynthID watermark detector, the fake image was generated or edited with a Google AI tool.

From BBC

I believe that AI and social media platforms should also more aggressively adopt standards to apply watermarks to AI-generated content and recognize and label such content.

From Salon

Then, days later, law enforcement released the video with a Nest watermark.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• apex
• apogee
• upper limit