Dictionary

label en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• [ˈleː.b(ə)ɫ] (Canada)
• [ˈlɛj.b(ə)ɫ] (British, Southern, Standard)
• /ˈleɪ.bəl/ (Canada, UK, US)
• [ˈlæɪ.bɫ̩] (Australia)
• (US) audio
• [ˈleɪ.bɫ̩] (Canada, UK, US)
• /ˈlæɪ.bəl/ (Australia)

Etymology

From Middle English label (“narrow band, strip of cloth”), from Old French label, lambel (Modern French lambeau), from Frankish *lappā (“torn piece of cloth”), from Proto-Germanic *lappǭ, *lappô (“cloth stuff, rag, scraps, flap, dewlap, lobe, rabbit ear”), from Proto-Indo-European *leb- (“blade”). Cognate with Old High German lappa (“rag, piece of cloth”), Old English læppa (“skirt, flap of a garment”). More at lap.

Meanings

1. A small ticket or sign giving information about something to which it is attached or intended to be attached.
   • Although the label priced this poster at three pounds, I got it for two.
   • The label says this silk scarf should not be washed in the washing machine.
   • We laughed at her because the label was still on her new sweater.
2. A name given to something or someone to categorise them as part of a particular social group.
   • Ever since he started going to the rock club, he's been given the label "waster".
3. A company that sells records.
   • The label signed the band after hearing a demo tape.
4. A user-defined alias for a numerical designation, the reverse of an enumeration.
   • Storage devices can be given by label or ID.
5. A named place in source code that can be jumped to using a GOTO or equivalent construct.
6. A charge resembling the strap crossing the horse’s chest from which pendants are hung.
7. (obsolete) A tassel.
   • the arms or escutcheon of France , hanging by a label on an oak a. 1662 (date written), Thomas Fuller, The History of the Worthies of England, London: […] J[ohn] G[rismond,] W[illiam] L[eybourne] and W[illiam] G[odbid], published 1662, →OCLC:
8. A small strip, especially of paper or parchment (or of some material attached to parchment to carry the seal), but also of iron, brass, land, etc.
   • Ere this hand, by thee to Romeo seal'd, / Shall be the label to another deed. c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, (please specify the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals)]:
   • The flesh and skin hung down in long Collops and Labels. 1679, Hist. of Jetzer, section 5:
   • They […] 'sealed the grave, and rolled a great stone at the mouth of it' and as an ancient tradition says, bound it about with labels of iron. 1649, Jer[emy] Taylor, chapter 39, in The Great Exemplar of Sanctity and Holy Life According to the Christian Institution. […], London: […] R. N. for Francis Ash, […], →OCLC, (please specify |part=1 to 3):
   • Where Balak met Balaam, standing as it were on his tiptoes on the very last labell of his land, to reach forth […] 1650, Fuller, Pisgah, IV. i. 25:
9. A piece of writing added to something, such as a codicil appended to a will.
10. (historical) A brass rule with sights, formerly used with a circumferentor to take altitudes.
11. The projecting moulding by the sides, and over the tops, of openings in mediaeval architecture.
    • Sculptured ends of labels are called label-stops. 2018, Marilyn Stokstad, Medieval Art, Routledge, →ISBN:
12. In mediaeval and later art, a representation of a band or scroll containing an inscription.
    • Boime correctly suggests that medieval artists who employed labels or scrolls to gloss illustrations typically configured text and image in visually overlapping, but cognitively separate, spaces. 2000, The Rutgers Art Review:
    • 2654. Two-handled globular vase; early Deruta lustred ware; centre surrounded by a band of scroll work; on each side the neck is an oval compartment with clasped hands, and a label scroll inscribed "Co pura fe.;" decoration, blue outline on white ground filled in with yellow lustre. 1859, Inventory of the Objects forming the Collections of the Museum of Ornamental Art at South Kensington, Victoria and Albert Museum, page 34:
    • While word balloons had been present in Europe for some time, from the phylactery (inscribed scroll) seen in medieval art to the 'labels' or 'banners' of nineteenth-century English satirical illustrator George Cruikshank, among others ... 2012, David Glover, Scott McCracken, The Cambridge Companion to Popular Fiction, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 177:
    • The author notes that: Each of these held in one Hand a Scroll or Label, upon which were inscribed in Latin, but in the Old English Character, the Names of Kings and Saints of the Royal Line of MERCIA. Many of the Labels are broke off, others are so much defaced, that only a Syllable or two can be read. 2011, Catherine A M Clarke, Mapping the Medieval City: Space, Place and Identity in Chester c.1200-1600, University of Wales Press, →ISBN:
13. A non-interactive control or widget displaying text, often used to describe the purpose of another control.

Forms

Deriveds

spin label · colabel · white-label · book label · labelmate · biolabel · labeller · record label · off-label · green label · sublabel · extra-label · white label · clean label · off label · radiolabel · labelless · label cloud · designer label · private label · ecolabel · multilabel · disklabel · netlabel · own label · immunolabel · labelese · vanity label · microlabel · labeler · charity label · clean-label · interlabel · mislabel · photolabel · matchbox label · labelable

Descendants

レーベル · label · label · ラベル · label · label · label · label

Synonyms

lambel · tag · sign · ticket · category · pigeonhole · record label

Translations (147)

fr catégorie (name categorising something or someone as part of a group) · sk štítok (small ticket or sign giving information) · sh налепница (small ticket or sign giving information) · mk етике́та (small ticket or sign giving information) · sl nalepka (small ticket or sign giving information) · el τίτλος (name categorising something or someone as part of a group) · gl rollo (small ticket or sign giving information) · cmn 簽條 /签条 (small ticket or sign giving information) · ca etiqueta (name categorising something or someone as part of a group) · la pittacium (small ticket or sign giving information) · fa-ira بَرْچَسْب (small ticket or sign giving information) · pl nalepka (small ticket or sign giving information) · be этыке́тка (small ticket or sign giving information) · ms label (small ticket or sign giving information) · pt etiqueta (small ticket or sign giving information) · id label (small ticket or sign giving information) · hi लेबल (small ticket or sign giving information) · ru этике́тка (small ticket or sign giving information) · es label (small ticket or sign giving information) · ka ეტიკეტი (small ticket or sign giving information) · cy label (small ticket or sign giving information) · ja 荷札 (small ticket or sign giving information) · cs nálepka (name categorising something or someone as part of a group) · uk на́клейка (small ticket or sign giving information) · uz etiketka (small ticket or sign giving information) · is merkimiði (small ticket or sign giving information) · fa-ira لِیبِل (small ticket or sign giving information) · fr étiquette (small ticket or sign giving information) · vi nhãn (small ticket or sign giving information) · ja 貼り札 (small ticket or sign giving information) · tg ярлиқ (small ticket or sign giving information) · lt žymė (small ticket or sign giving information) · uk на́ліпка (small ticket or sign giving information) · ja 札 (small ticket or sign giving information) · ja 貼り紙 (small ticket or sign giving information) · es marbete (small ticket or sign giving information) · fa-ira اِتیکِت (small ticket or sign giving information) · hy պիտակ (small ticket or sign giving information) · ar يَافْطَة (small ticket or sign giving information) · cs značka (small ticket or sign giving information) · da etiket (small ticket or sign giving information) · ar مُلْصَق (small ticket or sign giving information) · lo ສລາກ (small ticket or sign giving information) · de Beschriftung (small ticket or sign giving information) · sk etiketa (small ticket or sign giving information) · ja ラベル (small ticket or sign giving information) · az yarlıq (small ticket or sign giving information) · ru ярлы́к (name categorising something or someone as part of a group) · he תָּגִית (small ticket or sign giving information) · es rótulo (small ticket or sign giving information) · ro etichetă (small ticket or sign giving information) · be ярлы́к (small ticket or sign giving information) · nn merkelapp (small ticket or sign giving information) · sv etikett (small ticket or sign giving information) · fi leima (name categorising something or someone as part of a group) · nl etiket (name categorising something or someone as part of a group) · mk налепница (small ticket or sign giving information) · ky этикетка (small ticket or sign giving information) · pl metka (small ticket or sign giving information) · pt rótulo (name categorising something or someone as part of a group) · kk заттаңба (small ticket or sign giving information) · ru клеймо́ (name categorising something or someone as part of a group) · ru лейбл (small ticket or sign giving information) · fi etiketti (small ticket or sign giving information) · es rotulata (small ticket or sign giving information) · tg тамғакоғаз (small ticket or sign giving information) · ko 라벨 (small ticket or sign giving information) · lv etiķete (small ticket or sign giving information) · bg етике́т (small ticket or sign giving information) · ru ярлы́к (small ticket or sign giving information) · gl tíduo (small ticket or sign giving information) · fi lappu (small ticket or sign giving information) · sh nalepnica (small ticket or sign giving information) · tr etiket (small ticket or sign giving information) · de Etikett (small ticket or sign giving information) · my ကပ်တံဆိပ် (small ticket or sign giving information) · bn লেবেল (small ticket or sign giving information) · es signatura (small ticket or sign giving information) · ko 레이블 (small ticket or sign giving information) · be нале́пка (small ticket or sign giving information) · ms label (name categorising something or someone as part of a group) · kk затбелгі (small ticket or sign giving information) · uk би́рка (small ticket or sign giving information) · kk құлақша (small ticket or sign giving information) · sh etikéta (small ticket or sign giving information) · el επιγραφή (small ticket or sign giving information) · he תָּג (name categorising something or someone as part of a group) · fa-ira بَرْچَسْب (name categorising something or someone as part of a group) · sv etikett (name categorising something or someone as part of a group) · tg тамға (small ticket or sign giving information) · fr étiquette (name categorising something or someone as part of a group) · ka იარლიყი (small ticket or sign giving information) · tg ёрлиқ (small ticket or sign giving information) · cmn 標籤 /标签 (small ticket or sign giving information) · sv beteckning (name categorising something or someone as part of a group) · pl etykieta (small ticket or sign giving information) · id etiket (small ticket or sign giving information) · ky наклейка (small ticket or sign giving information) · gl etiqueta (small ticket or sign giving information) · mi tapanga (small ticket or sign giving information) · sl etiketa (small ticket or sign giving information) · nl etiket (small ticket or sign giving information) · fr libellé (small ticket or sign giving information) · az etiket (small ticket or sign giving information) · gl bitafe (small ticket or sign giving information) · ia etiquetta (small ticket or sign giving information) · ru би́рка (small ticket or sign giving information) · de Etikette (small ticket or sign giving information) · lv zīmīte (small ticket or sign giving information) · io etiketo (small ticket or sign giving information) · hu címke (small ticket or sign giving information) · es etiqueta (small ticket or sign giving information) · bg етике́т (name categorising something or someone as part of a group) · uk накле́йка (small ticket or sign giving information) · sh етике́та (small ticket or sign giving information) · fi merkki (small ticket or sign giving information) · eo etikedo (small ticket or sign giving information) · uz yorliq (small ticket or sign giving information) · no etikett (small ticket or sign giving information) · dsb napis (small ticket or sign giving information) · el ετικέτα (small ticket or sign giving information) · it etichetta (small ticket or sign giving information) · gl letreiro (small ticket or sign giving information) · fr case (name categorising something or someone as part of a group) · cs štítek (small ticket or sign giving information) · ru накле́йка (small ticket or sign giving information) · sq etiketë (small ticket or sign giving information) · et etikett (small ticket or sign giving information) · cs etiketa (small ticket or sign giving information) · ar بِطَاقَة (small ticket or sign giving information) · kk жапсырма (small ticket or sign giving information) · be бі́рка (small ticket or sign giving information) · th ฉลาก (small ticket or sign giving information) · prs لیبَل (small ticket or sign giving information) · pt rótulo (small ticket or sign giving information) · nb merkelapp (small ticket or sign giving information) · lt etiketė (small ticket or sign giving information) · my တံဆိပ် (small ticket or sign giving information) · pl etykietka (name categorising something or someone as part of a group) · uk ярли́к (small ticket or sign giving information) · es marchamo (small ticket or sign giving information) · de Aufschrift (small ticket or sign giving information) · uk етике́тка (small ticket or sign giving information) · nl label (small ticket or sign giving information) · ur لیبَل (small ticket or sign giving information) · km ស្លាក (small ticket or sign giving information) · ca etiqueta (small ticket or sign giving information)

label en · VERB

Pronunciation

• [ˈleː.b(ə)ɫ] (Canada)
• [ˈlɛj.b(ə)ɫ] (British, Southern, Standard)
• /ˈleɪ.bəl/ (Canada, UK, US)
• [ˈlæɪ.bɫ̩] (Australia)
• (US) audio
• [ˈleɪ.bɫ̩] (Canada, UK, US)
• /ˈlæɪ.bəl/ (Australia)

Etymology

From Middle English label (“narrow band, strip of cloth”), from Old French label, lambel (Modern French lambeau), from Frankish *lappā (“torn piece of cloth”), from Proto-Germanic *lappǭ, *lappô (“cloth stuff, rag, scraps, flap, dewlap, lobe, rabbit ear”), from Proto-Indo-European *leb- (“blade”). Cognate with Old High German lappa (“rag, piece of cloth”), Old English læppa (“skirt, flap of a garment”). More at lap.

Meanings

1. (transitive) To put a label (a ticket or sign) on (something).
   • The shop assistant labeled all the products in the shop.
2. (ambitransitive, ditransitive) To give (a label) to (someone or something) in order to categorise that person or thing.
   • The other side can label and name-call all they want, but I trust the American people to recognize that it is not surrender to end the war in Iraq so that we can rebuild our military and go after Al Qaida's leaders. 2008 May 7, Barack Obama, “Transcript: Senator Obama's remarks in North Carolina”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 09 Jun 2018:
   • A friend of mine who runs an intellectual magazine was grousing about his movie critic, complaining that though the fellow had liked The Godfather (page 58), he had neglected to label it clearly as a masterpiece. 1972 December 29, Richard Schickel, “Masterpieces underrated and overlooked”, in Life, volume 73, number 25, page 22:
   • And the liberal blogosphere has long labeled Clinton part of the neoconservative wing, a conservative intellectual movement that supports an interventionist foreign policy. 2016 August 31, Tal Kopan, “Will Hillary Clinton’s GOP outreach alienate progressives?”, in CNN:
   • He's been unfairly labeled as a cheat, although he's only ever cheated once.
3. To replace specific atoms by their isotope in order to track the presence or movement of this isotope through a reaction, metabolic pathway or cell.
4. To add a detectable substance, either transiently or permanently, to a biological substance in order to track the presence of the label-substance combination either in situ or in vitro
   • They may be used to label and image a protein within tissue, to isolate cells on the basis of marker expression, or to physically capture a protein from a complex biological mixture.... Apr 15 2015, “Protein binder woes”, in Nature Methods:

Forms

Deriveds

relabel

Synonyms

compartmentalise · tag (put a ticket or sign on) · peg · price (put a ticket or sign on) · categorise (give a label to in order to categorise) · pigeonhole

Translations (55)

es tildar de (give a label to in order to categorise) · it bollare (give a label to in order to categorise) · it etichettare (put a ticket or sign on) · it definire (give a label to in order to categorise) · ro eticheta (give a label to in order to categorise) · ms label (give a label to in order to categorise) · cs označit (put a ticket or sign on) · de etikettieren (give a label to in order to categorise) · fi laputtaa (put a ticket or sign on) · nl etiketteren (put a ticket or sign on) · eo etikedi (give a label to in order to categorise) · nl prijzen (put a ticket or sign on) · ro categorisi (give a label to in order to categorise) · es etiquetear (put a ticket or sign on) · el κατατάσσω σε (give a label to in order to categorise) · ro eticheta (put a ticket or sign on) · pl etykietować (give a label to in order to categorise) · pt etiquetar (put a ticket or sign on) · fr étiqueter (give a label to in order to categorise) · el βαφτίζω (give a label to in order to categorise) · de einordnen (abstrakt) (put a ticket or sign on) · fa برچسب زدن (put a ticket or sign on) · el κολλάω ετικέτα (put a ticket or sign on) · sv etikettera (give a label to in order to categorise) · fr catégoriser (give a label to in order to categorise) · sv märka (put a ticket or sign on) · el τιτλοφορώ (give a label to in order to categorise) · pl etykietować (put a ticket or sign on) · gl etiquetar (put a ticket or sign on) · fi leimata (give a label to in order to categorise) · ca etiquetar (give a label to in order to categorise) · es rotular (put a ticket or sign on) · fr classer (give a label to in order to categorise) · no merke (give a label to in order to categorise) · nl categoriseren (give a label to in order to categorise) · ms label (put a ticket or sign on) · es etiquetar de / como (give a label to in order to categorise) · sv etikettera (put a ticket or sign on) · io etiketizar (put a ticket or sign on) · fa برچسب زدن (give a label to in order to categorise) · nl etiketten aanbrengen (put a ticket or sign on) · ru клейми́ть (give a label to in order to categorise) · es etiquetar (put a ticket or sign on) · pt rotular (put a ticket or sign on) · ru ве́шать ярлыки́ (give a label to in order to categorise) · ca etiquetar (put a ticket or sign on) · ru накле́ивать ярлыки́ (put a ticket or sign on) · nl bestempelen (give a label to in order to categorise) · fr étiqueter (put a ticket or sign on) · pt classificar (give a label to in order to categorise) · de etikettieren (put a ticket or sign on) · mi tapa (put a ticket or sign on) · bg етикетирам (put a ticket or sign on) · sv beteckna (give a label to in order to categorise) · it classificare (give a label to in order to categorise)