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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

brand.

A mark or scar made by burning with a hot iron, especially to mark cattle or to classify the contents of a cask.

5 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈbɹænd/Received-Pronunciation[ˈbɹʷænd] ~ [bɹʷand]Received-Pronunciation/ˈbɹand/British, Midlands, Southern, Standard[bɹʷand]British, Midlands, Southern, Standard
  1. A mark or scar made by burning with a hot iron, especially to mark cattle or to classify the contents of a cask.

  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.

  4. A specific product, service, or provider so distinguished.

    Some brands of breakfast cereal contain a lot of sugar.
  5. Any specific type or variety of something; a distinct style or manner.

    broadly
    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.

  7. A mark of infamy; stigma.

  8. Any minute fungus producing a burnt appearance in plants.

  9. A torch used for signaling.

    Northern-England · Scotland
  10. A flame.

    obsolete · rare
  11. A conflagration.

    obsolete · rare
  12. A piece of burning wood or peat, or a glowing cinder.

    archaic · poetic
    to burn something to brands and ashes
  13. A sword.

    archaic
Where this word comes from

From Middle English brand, from Old English brand (“fire; flame; burning; torch; sword”), from Proto-West Germanic *brand, from Proto-Germanic *brandaz (“flame; flaming; fire-brand; torch; sword”), derived from Proto-Germanic *brinnaną (“to burn”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrewh₁- (“to boil; brew”). Cognate with Scots brand, West Frisian brân (“fire”), Dutch brand, German Brand, Danish brand, Swedish brand (“blaze, fire”), Icelandic brandur, French brand (< Germanic). More distantly cognate with Proto-Slavic *gorěti (“to burn”).

verb/ˈbɹænd/Received-Pronunciation[ˈbɹʷænd] ~ [bɹʷand]Received-Pronunciation/ˈbɹand/British, Midlands, Southern, Standard[bɹʷand]British, Midlands, Southern, Standard
  1. To burn the flesh with a hot iron, either as a marker (for criminals, slaves etc.) or to cauterise a wound.

    transitive
    When they caught him, he was branded and then locked up.
  2. To burn the flesh with a hot iron, either as a marker (for criminals, slaves etc.) or to cauterise a wound. To mark (especially cattle) with a brand as proof of ownership.

    transitive
    The ranch hands had to brand every new calf by lunchtime.
  3. To make an indelible impression on the memory or senses.

    transitive
    Her face is branded upon my memory.
  4. To stigmatize, label (someone).

    transitive
    He was branded a fool by everyone that heard his story.
  5. To associate a product or service with a trademark or other name and related images.

    transitive
    They branded the new detergent "Suds-O", with a nature scene inside a green O on the muted-colored recycled-cardboard box.
  6. To be very hot, to burn.

    intransitive
Where this word comes from

From Middle English brand, from Old English brand (“fire; flame; burning; torch; sword”), from Proto-West Germanic *brand, from Proto-Germanic *brandaz (“flame; flaming; fire-brand; torch; sword”), derived from Proto-Germanic *brinnaną (“to burn”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrewh₁- (“to boil; brew”). Cognate with Scots brand, West Frisian brân (“fire”), Dutch brand, German Brand, Danish brand, Swedish brand (“blaze, fire”), Icelandic brandur, French brand (< Germanic). More distantly cognate with Proto-Slavic *gorěti (“to burn”).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.