mark#

mark n 1 *sign, symptom, note, token, badge

Analogous words: *stigma, brand, blot, stain: criterion, touchstone, gauge, yardstick, *standard: *trace, vestige, track: stamp, print, imprint, impress, *impression

2 *character, symbol, sign

Analogous words: *device, contrivance

3 brand, stamp, label, tag, ticket (see under MARK vb)

mark vb 1 Mark, brand, stamp, label, tag, ticket are comparable both as verbs meaning to affix, attach, or impress something which serves for identification and as nouns meaning the thing affixed, attached, or impressed for such a purpose.

Mark, the comprehensive term of this group, in itself as distinct from context implies nothing about the way of affixing, attaching, or impressing and therefore may take the place of any of the remaining terms to suggest a means by which something may be identified, or such matters as its ownership, origin, and quality may be established

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all her linen was marked by embroidered initials

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English gold and silver articles are marked, to attest their purity, with the official mark of the Goldsmiths' Company

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the marks of old age are appearing in his face

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bringing with him the marks of his rank and privilege, the silver and china, the linen and damask, the portraits in peeling gold frames— Warren

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Brand basically implies a burning or searing with a hot iron to make a permanent mark that serves to identify (as in respect to status, ownership, quality, or make)

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cattle on the open range were branded to show their owner

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But brand has been extended to other methods of marking and then commonly stresses the indelibility of the mark and this implication affects its various extended uses much as does the more basic one (see brand n under STIGMA)

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history has once again branded this lesson on the minds of those who choose to see— Beachcroft

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In particular the noun often implies a being the identified product of a specified maker

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accustomed to ask for goods by brand

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a store that carries only well-known brands

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Stamp (see also IMPRESSION) basically implies an impressing of a mark of identification, authentication, or authorization upon some softer material by means of a machine or instrument that hammers it in; it may imply also any comparable method of affixing a mark, usually with some suggestion of permanence or indelibility

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every coin is stamped with a particular design that cer-tifies it as belonging to a certain country and as having such and such a value

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the meat was dark red with uneven white edges of fat. Blue inspection stamps were on the white fat— Wirt Williams

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stamp a bill "Paid"

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stamp a letter with the date of arrival at the post office

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put a ten-cent postage stamp on that letter

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this passport now bears all the necessary stamps

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his paternity was stamped so indelibly on his outer shell— Costain

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a poet who has left her stamp on her generation— S. H. Hay

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Label implies the affixing of a piece of material (as paper, metal, or cloth) upon something to show its name, description, origin, or the person and address to which it is being sent

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1label all the minerals in the collection

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she affixed a small paper label to each jar of preserves

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the contents of every bottle should be carefully labeled

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In its extended use label usually applies'to the applying of an epithet, often rather arbitrarily, to something or someone

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when I was at Harvard all the types of narrative were labeled and classified like beetles in a case— Marquand

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hanging the subversive label on their own liberal clergy— Winnett

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Tag is applied to a label loosely attached (as to a package or a piece of baggage) giving directions or information; it often implies less permanent attachment than label

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a tag pinned to his lapel, bearing his name and destination— Current Biog.

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tag a parcel for shipment

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price tags

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write out tags for all the pieces of baggage

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Ticket in the relevant sense is more common as noun than verb and basically denotes a slip (as of paper, cardboard, or metal) usually conveying information or evidencing a right. Often the word is interchangeable with label or tag without loss of meaning

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many retailers who attach their own store tags to the merchandise look at the manufacturers' tags and labels as auxiliary tickets supplementing their own— Women's Wear Daily

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Analogous words: imprint, impress, print (see corresponding nouns at IMPRESSION): recognize, identify (see corresponding nouns at RECOGNITION)

2 *characterize, distinguish, qualify

Analogous words: *indicate, betoken, attest, bespeak, prove, argue: intimate, hint, *suggest