label
/ˈleɪ.bəl/ noun, verb, proper noun
Forms labels labeling labelling labeled labelled
- noun A small ticket or sign giving information about something to which it is attached or intended to be attached. “We laughed at her because the label was still on her new sweater.”
- noun A name given to something or someone to categorise them as part of a particular social group. “Ever since he started going to the rock club, he's been given the label "waster".”
- noun (music) A company that sells records. “The label signed the band after hearing a demo tape.”
- noun (computing) A user-defined alias for a numerical designation, the reverse of an enumeration. “Storage devices can be given by label or ID.”
- noun (computing) A named place in source code that can be jumped to using a GOTO or equivalent construct.
- noun (heraldry) A charge resembling the strap crossing the horse’s chest from which pendants are hung.
- noun (obsolete) A tassel.
- noun A small strip, especially of paper or parchment (or of some material attached to parchment to carry the seal), but also of iron, brass, land, etc.
- verb (transitive) To put a label (a ticket or sign) on (something). “The shop assistant labeled all the products in the shop.”
- verb (ambitransitive, ditransitive) To give (a label) to (someone or something) in order to categorise that person or thing. “He's been unfairly labeled as a cheat, although he's only ever cheated once.”
- verb (biochemistry) To replace specific atoms by their isotope in order to track the presence or movement of this isotope through a reaction, metabolic pathway or cell.
- verb (biochemistry) To add a detectable substance, either transiently or permanently, to a biological substance in order to track the presence of the label-substance combination either in situ or in vitro
- proper noun a language spoken in Papua New Guinea
Synonyms
sign tag ticket category pigeonhole record label lambel price categorise compartmentalise peg recording label mark pronounce judge
Etymology
From Middle English label (“narrow band, strip of cloth”), from Old French label, lambel (Modern French lambeau), from Frankish *lappā (“torn piece of cloth”), from Proto-Germanic *lappǭ, *lappô (“cloth stuff, rag, scraps, flap, dewlap, lobe, rabbit ear”), from Proto-Indo-European *leb- (“blade”). Cognate with Old High German lappa (“rag, piece of cloth”), Old English læppa (“skirt, flap of a garment”). More at lap.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A tassel. [Obs.] Huloet. Fuller.
- noun A slip of silk, paper, parchment, etc., affixed to anything, usually by an inscription, the contents, ownership, destination, etc.; as, the label of a bottle or a package.
- verb To affix a label to; to mark with a name, etc.; as, to label a bottle or a package.
- verb To affix in or on a label. [R.]
Etymology [OF. label sort of ribbon or fringe, label in heraldry, F. lambeau shred, strip, rag; of uncertain origin; cf. L.labellum, dim. of labrum lip, edge, margin, G. lappen flap, patch, rag, tatter (cf. Lap of a dress), W. llab, llabed, label, flap, Gael. leab, leob, slice, shred, hanging lip.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “label”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details