Etymology 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”).
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:
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A branding iron.
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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:
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Mr. Lundgren claimed that Federated had conducted a focus group and the analysis showed that most people were either indifferent to the name change or preferred the Macy's brand.2010, Gayle Soucek, Marshall Field's: The Store That Helped Build Chicago, page 136:
Since the launch early last year of […] two Silicon Valley start-ups offering free education through MOOCs, massive open online courses, the ivory towers of academia have been shaken to their foundations. University brands built in some cases over centuries have been forced to contemplate the possibility that information technology will rapidly make their existing business model obsolete.2013 July 20, “The attack of the MOOCs”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:
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Business A specific product, service, or provider so distinguished.
Some brands of breakfast cereal contain a lot of sugar.
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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
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[O]ne minute this "Jihadi John" was struggling to get by, and get accepted, in drizzly England, unemployed with a mortgage to pay and a chip on his shoulder, and the next he stands in brilliant Levantine sunlight, where everything is clear and etched, at the vanguard of some Sunni Risorgimento intent on subjecting the world to its murderous brand of Wahhabi Islam.2014 November 17, Roger Cohen, “The horror! The horror! The trauma of ISIS [print version: International New York Times, 18 November 2014, p. 9]”, in The New York Times:
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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:
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He unplugged my umbilical cord to take a leisurely swig, smirking, watching me turn blue before giving it back. My cardiologist told me that was impossible, but I'm still convinced. That's very on-brand for [my twin] Jamie.2019, Sally Thorne, 99 Percent Mine: A Novel, HarperCollins, →ISBN:
“We made fun of [Jacob Rees-Mogg] in the paper” — that would be Cherwell, Oxford’s student-run weekly, where Kuper was a reporter — “all the while not realizing that we were helping to build his brand.”2022 May 14, David Segal, quoting Simon Kuper, “An Outsider Takes an Inside Look at the Oxford ‘Chums’ Who Run the U.K.”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
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A mark of infamy; stigma.
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Any minute fungus producing a burnt appearance in plants.
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:
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:
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1859-1890, John Gorham Palfrey, History of New England to the Revolutionary War Snatching a live brand from a wigwam, Mason threw it on a matted roof.
About three o'clock, we came to a recent camping place of the company of rangers: the brands of one of their fires were still smoking; so that, according to the opinion of Beatte, they could not have passed on above a day previously.1835, [Washington Irving], chapter VI, in A Tour on the Prairies (The Crayon Miscellany; no. 1), Philadelphia, Pa.: [Henry Charles] Carey, [Isaac] Lea, & Blanchard, →OCLC, page 47:
Or when amid the Grecians shippes, / he threw the brandes of fyre.1559, Jasper Heywood, transl., Troas:
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 as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
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:
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Then Childe Rowland out with his good brand, that never struck in vain, and off went the cow-herd’s head.1890, Joseph Jacobs, “Childe Rowland”, in English Fairy Tales, page 120:
Etymology 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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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:
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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:
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To make an indelible impression on the memory or senses.
Her face is branded upon my memory.
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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:
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As Ferguson strode briskly towards the Stretford End at the final whistle, he will have been reflecting on the extent of the challenge now facing him from the club he once branded "noisy neighbours".2011 October 23, Phil McNulty, “Man Utd 1-6 Man City”, in BBC Sport:
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Business, Marketing 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.
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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: