brand

Everyday

1. A brand is the name of a product made by a particular company, with its own logo: a brand of trainers, a brand of cereal. tree →
2. A brand is a mark burned into an animal's skin to show who owns it. tree →
3. To brand means to mark with a brand, or to give someone a bad name: he was branded a liar. tree →
4. «Brand new» means completely new, never used. tree →
5. A brand is also a burning stick or piece of wood, used as a torch. tree →

In the lessons

In everyday life and maths: comparing brands in shops — the cheaper own brand vs the famous brand; working out which is the better buy by price per gram. In media lessons, children learn how adverts and logos make people want a brand, and that a famous brand is not always better. On farms and in westerns, cattle are branded. Phrases: brand new, brand name, own brand, a brand of, favourite brand.

Examples

• What brand of trainers do you like? tree →
• Mum buys the supermarket's own brand because it is cheaper. tree →
• My bike is brand new. tree →
• Adverts try to make us love a brand. tree →
• The rancher put his brand on the cattle. tree →
• He was branded a cheat after one mistake. tree →
• Compare two brands to see which is the better value. tree →
• On hearing this, Althea seized the brand, laid it up carefully in a chest, and henceforth preserved it as her most precious possession. tree →

Note

Countable: brands. «Brand new» is often written without a hyphen after a verb («It's brand new») and with one before a noun («a brand-new bike»). Trap: a famous brand logo on something does not prove quality, and fake branded goods exist.

In Jewish tradition

A burning stick, or a stick pulled from a fire. Zechariah calls Joshua the high priest a brand plucked out of the fire.

Interpretation. The saved brand is a picture of Israel rescued from exile and destruction by God's mercy.

Examples

• A contemptible brand in the thought of him that is at ease, a thing ready for them whose foot slippeth. (Writings JOB.12.5, JPS 1917) tree →
• Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that gird yourselves with firebrands, begone in the flame of your fire, and among the brands that ye have kindled. (Prophets ISA.50.11, JPS 1917) tree →
• And the LORD said unto Satan: 'The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan, yea, the LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee; is not this man a brand plucked out of the fire?' (Prophets ZEC.3.2, JPS 1917) tree →

Note

Countable: brands. «Brand new» is often written without a hyphen after a verb («It's brand new») and with one before a noun («a brand-new bike»). Trap: a famous brand logo on something does not prove quality, and fake branded goods exist.