Brand (&?;), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Branded;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Branding.]
. 1. 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).
2. To put
an actual distinctive mark upon in any other way, as
with a stencil, to show quality of contents, name of manufacture, etc.
3.
Fig.: To fix a mark of infamy, or
a stigma, upon.
The
Inquisition branded its victims with infamy.
Prescott.
There were the enormities, branded and
condemned by the first and
most natural verdict of common humanity.
South.
4.
To mark or impress indelibly, as with a hot iron.
As if it were branded on my mind.
Geo. Eliot.
Brand (&?;), n. [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. √32. See Burn, v. t., and cf. Brandish.]
1. A burning piece of wood; or a stick or piece of wood
partly burnt, whether burning or after the
fire is extinct.
Snatching a live brand from a wigwam, Mason threw it on a matted roof.
Palfrey.
2.
A sword, so called from its glittering or flashing brightness. [Poetic]
Tennyson.
Paradise, so late their
happy seat,
Waved over by
that flaming brand.
Milton.
3. A mark
made by burning with a hot iron, as upon a cask, to designate the quality, manufacturer,
etc., of the contents, or upon an animal, to designate ownership; --
also, a mark
for a similar purpose made in any other way, as
with a stencil. Hence, figurately: Quality; kind; grade; as, a good brand of flour.
4. A mark put upon criminals with a hot iron. Hence: Any mark of infamy or vice; a stigma.
The brand of private vice.
Channing.
5. An instrument to brand with; a
branding iron.
6. (Bot.) Any minute fungus which produces a burnt appearance in plants. The brands are of many species and several genera of the order
Pucciniæi.
Hear it pronounced