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| n. 1. a. A trademark or distinctive name identifying a product, service, or organization. b. A product or service so identified: bought a popular brand of soap. c. An association of positive qualities with a widely recognized name, as of a product line or celebrity: The company tried to improve its brand by donating money to charity. d. A distinctive category; a particular kind: a brand of comedy that I do not care for. 2. A mark indicating identity or ownership, burned on the hide of an animal with a hot iron. 3. a. A mark burned into a person's flesh, as to identify a convicted criminal or a slave. b. A mark burned into a person's flesh for ornamental or aesthetic purposes. 4. An association of disgrace or notoriety with something; a stigma. See Synonyms at stain. 5. A branding iron. 6. A piece of burning or charred wood. 7. Archaic A sword: “So flashed and fell the brand Excalibur” (Tennyson). tr.v. brand·ed, brand·ing, brands 1. To mark with a hot iron, as to show ownership: branded the steer. 2. To provide with or publicize using a brand name or other readily recognized identifier: a line of cars branded with mythological names. 3. To consider or label as disgraceful or infamous; stigmatize: branded the deserters as cowards. 4. To impress firmly; fix ineradicably: Imagery of the war has branded itself into the national consciousness. [Middle English, torch, from Old English; see gwher- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.] brander n. |
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