“brands” is a form of
brand
UK /ˈbɹænd/ · US /brænd/ noun, verb, proper noun
- noun A mark or scar made by burning with a hot iron, especially to mark cattle or to classify the contents of a cask.
- noun A branding iron.
- noun The symbolic identity, represented by a name and/or a logo, which indicates a certain product or service to the public.
- noun (business) A specific product, service, or provider so distinguished. “Some brands of breakfast cereal contain a lot of sugar.”
- noun (by extension) Any specific type or variety of something; a distinct style or manner. “I didn’t appreciate his particular brand of flattery.”
- noun The public image or reputation and recognized, typical style of an individual or group.
- noun A mark of infamy; stigma.
- noun Any minute fungus producing a burnt appearance in plants.
- verb (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.”
- verb (transitive) To mark (especially cattle) with a brand as proof of ownership. “The ranch hands had to brand every new calf by lunchtime.”
- verb (transitive) To make an indelible impression on the memory or senses. “Her face is branded upon my memory.”
- verb (transitive) To stigmatize, label (someone). “He was branded a fool by everyone that heard his story.”
- verb (transitive, 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.”
- verb (intransitive) To be very hot, to burn.
- proper noun A surname.
- proper noun A municipality in Bludenz district, Vorarlberg, Austria.
- proper noun A municipality in Tirschenreuth district, Bavaria, Germany.
- proper noun A borough of Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
- proper noun A hamlet in Beekdaelen municipality, Limburg province, Netherlands.
Synonyms
trademark logo brand name marque tradename proprietary name repute name good name trade name make firebrand mark stigma stain sword blade steel stigmatize stigmatise denounce brandmark post
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”).
* As an English, Scottish, north German, Dutch, French, and North Germanic surname, from a Germanic personal name derived from Proto-Germanic *brandaz (“sword, firebrand, torch”), as in the second element of Hildebrand.
* Also as a German surname, variant of Brandt.
* As a Swedish and Danish surname, from brand (“fire”).
* As a Jewish surname, from German Brand (“fire”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun A burning piece of wood; or a stick or piece of wood partly burnt, whether burning or after the fire is extinct.
- noun A sword, so called from its glittering or flashing brightness.
- verb To burn a distinctive mark into or upon with a hot iron, to indicate quality, ownership, etc., or to mark as infamous (as a convict).
- verb To put an actual distinctive mark upon in any other way, as with a stencil, to show quality of contents, name of manufacture, etc.
Etymology [OE. brand, brond, AS. brand brond brand, sword, from byrnan, beornan, to burn; akin to D., Dan., Sw., & G. brand brand, Icel. brandr a brand, blade of a sword. sq. root32. See Burn, v. t., and cf. Brandish.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “brand”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details