brand

Noun

brand (plural brands)

1. A mark or scar made by burning with a hot iron, especially to mark cattle or to classify the contents of a cask.
   • “Well, in the first place, every cattleman has to have a brand to identify his stock. Without it no cattleman, nor half a hundred cowboys, if he had so many, could ever recognize all the cattle in a big herd. […]”1914 January, Zane Grey, The Light of Western Stars: A Romance, New York, N.Y.; London: Harper & Brothers Publishers, →OCLC, page 59
   • The indelible word "homosexual," like a brand that grew deeper and redder every day, became increasingly hard to conceal and to ignore.1982 December 4, Mitzel, “A Sissy's Revenge”, in Gay Community News, volume 10, number 20, page 9
2. A branding iron.
3. The symbolic identity, represented by a name and/or a logo, which indicates a certain product or service to the public.
   • The Amtrak brand revitalization approach represents one of the most ambitious, comprehensive, and systematic experiential marketing approaches I have ever seen.1999, Bernd Schmitt, Experiential marketing, page 39
   • In this way, every Citibanker becomes a brand manager and an ambassador of the Citibank brand. ... Indeed, the Citibank brand will "never sleep"2000, Duane E. Knapp, The Brandmindset, page 67

   Synonyms:

   trademark, logo, brand name, marque, tradename, proprietary name

4. A specific product, service, or provider so distinguished.
   • Some brands of breakfast cereal contain a lot of sugar.
5. (broadly) Any specific type or variety of something; a distinct style or manner.
   • I didn’t appreciate his particular brand of flattery.
   • New Orleans brand sausage; Danish brand ham
6. The public image or reputation and recognized, typical style of an individual or group.
   • The Obama brand had taken a hit two months earlier, when he campaigned for Creigh Deeds in Virginia and Jon Corzine in New Jersey, only to see them both lose.2011, Tom Bevan, Carl M. Cannon, Election 2012: The Battle Begins, Crown, →ISBN
   • Her brand is edgy, cosmopolitan, and out-of-the-box, so blogging is the perfect, ever-changing match for her.2012, Start Your Own Personal Concierge Service, Entrepreneur Press, →ISBN, page 104

   Synonyms:

   repute, name, good name

7. A mark of infamy; stigma.
8. Any minute fungus producing a burnt appearance in plants.
9. (Northern England, Scotland) A torch used for signaling.
10. (obsolete, rare) A flame.
    • Goe to prepare the maryages what neede the torchis light? be holde the towres of troy do shyne with brandes that blase full bright.1559, Jasper Heywood, transl., Troas
    • Is yet againe thy brest enflamde, / with brande of venus might1559, Jasper Heywood, transl., Troas
11. (obsolete, rare) A conflagration.
12. (archaic, poetic) A piece of burning wood or peat, or a glowing cinder.
    • to burn something to brands and ashes
    • The fearful brands and bleezes of het fire.1513, Gavin Douglas, The Eneados
13. (archaic) A sword.
    • Paradise, so late their happy seat, / Waved over by that flaming brand.1667, John Milton, “Book X”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished...
    • The shattering trumpet shrilleth high, / The hard brands shiver on the steel, / The splintered spear-shafts crack and fly, / The horse and rider reel: […]1834 September (date written), Alfred Tennyson, “Sir Galahad”, in Poems. […], volume II, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, stanza I, page 174

Verb

brand (third-person singular simple present brands, present participle branding, simple past and past participle branded)

1. (transitive) To burn the flesh with a hot iron, either as a marker (for criminals, slaves etc.) or to cauterise a wound.
   • When they caught him, he was branded and then locked up.
   • Man's flesh they eat: their own they paint and sear, / branding with burning iron, — usage fere!1880, Richard Francis Burton, Os Lusíadas, volume II, page 405
   1. (transitive) To mark (especially cattle) with a brand as proof of ownership.
      • The ranch hands had to brand every new calf by lunchtime.
      • A maverick is an unbranded calf that has been weaned and shifts for itself. The maverick then belongs to the man who finds it and brands it.1914 January, Zane Grey, The Light of Western Stars: A Romance, New York, N.Y.; London: Harper & Brothers Publishers, →OCLC, page 59
2. (transitive) To make an indelible impression on the memory or senses.
   • Her face is branded upon my memory.
3. (transitive) To stigmatize, label (someone).
   • He was branded a fool by everyone that heard his story.
   • I had never defrauded a man of a farthing, nor called him knave behind his back. But now the last rag that covered my nakedness had been torn from me. I was branded a blackleg, card-sharper, and murderer.1908, W[illiam] B[lair] M[orton] Ferguson, chapter II, in Zollenstein, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC
4. (transitive) To associate a product or service with a trademark or other name and related images.
   • They branded the new detergent "Suds-O", with a nature scene inside a green O on the muted-colored recycled-cardboard box.
5. (intransitive) To be very hot, to burn.
   • O, not for thee the glow, the bloom,
     ⁠Who changest not in any gale,
     ⁠Nor branding summer suns avail
     To touch thy thousand years of gloom: […]1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto II”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC

Proper noun capitalized: Brand

US/brænd/

Brand (countable and uncountable, plural Brands)

1. A surname.
2. A municipality in Bludenz district, Vorarlberg, Austria.
3. A municipality in Tirschenreuth district, Bavaria, Germany.
4. A borough of Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
5. A hamlet in Beekdaelen municipality, Limburg province, Netherlands.