1. 1. A trademark or distinctive name identifying a product or a manufacturer.
   2. A product line so identified: a popular brand of soap.
   3. 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 mark burned into the flesh of criminals.
4. A mark of disgrace or notoriety; a stigma. See synonyms at stain.
5. A branding iron.
6. A piece of burning or charred wood.
7. A sword: "So flashed and fell the brand Excalibur" (Tennyson).

1. To mark with or as if with a hot iron. See synonyms at mark¹.
2. 1. To mark to show ownership.
   2. To provide with or publicize using a brand name.
3. To mark with disgrace or infamy; stigmatize.
4. To impress firmly; fix ineradicably: Imagery of the war has branded itself into the national consciousness.

[Middle English, torch, from Old English.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.