Brand sb.

Also 1–7 brond(e, 4 bront, broond, 5 bronnd, 6 Sc. broynd, 7 bran, 9 dial. bron. [Com. Teut.: OE. brand, brǫnd = OFris. brand (MDu. bran(d), Du. brand), OHG., MHG. brant (mod.G. brand), ON. brand-r:—OTeut. *brando-z, f. bran- pret. stem of *brinn-an to BURN + suffix -do, as in WORD.]

  I.  Act, means, or result of burning.

  † 1.  Burning, conflagration, destruction by fire.

a. 1000.  Beowulf, 4258. Hy hine ne moston … bronde forbærnan.

c. 1300.  K. Alis., 1856. They … stete fuyre, and wilde bronnd, Anon in kyng Daries lond.

  2.  A piece of wood that is or has been burning on the hearth; also poet. a torch, a match or linstock (see quot. 1810).

c. 950.  Lindisf. Gosp., John xviii. 3. Judas … cuom ðidir mið lehtfatum & brondum & woepnum.

a. 1000.  Dan., 246 (Gr.). Baron brandas on bryne fyres.

c. 1175.  Lamb. Hom., 81. He wule aquikien and al þe brond tenden.

a. 1300.  Cursor M., 7154. Vn-to þair tails fir he band, Foluand ilk fox a brand.

1477.  Earl Rivers, Dictes (Caxton), 16. Scornyng … wastith loue as the fiere doth the bronde.

a. 1547.  Surrey, Æneid, IV. 505. With burial brandes I absent shall thee chase.

a. 1674.  Milton, Hist. Mosc., Wks. 1738, II. 129. So cold … that the very Sap of their Wood-fewel burning on the fire, freezes at the Brand’s-end.

1735.  Somerville, Chase, II. 409. Like Flocks of Sheep they fly Before the flaming Brand.

1810.  Campbell, Batt. Baltic, i. By each gun the lighted brand, In a bold determined hand.

1835.  W. Irving, Tour Prairies, 41. The brands of one of their fires were still smoking.

  3.  transf. and fig.

  † a.  collect. or in pl. The fire on the hearth. Obs. or dial.

a. 1300.  Prov. Hendyng, 109. Este bueþ oune brondes, quoþ Hendyng.

1862.  Barnes, Rhymes Dorset Dial., I. 129. She warm’d em some cider avore the bron.

  b.  A brand from the burning or from the fire (in allusion to Zech. iii. 2 and Amos iv. 11): a person delivered from imminent danger.

1382.  Wyclif, Zech. iii. 2. Wher this is not a dead brond rauyshid of the fijr.

1535.  Coverdale, ibid. Is not this a brande taken out of the fyre?

1779.  Wesley, Hymns (1831), 170. O Jesus, of thee I inquire, If still thou art able … The brand to pluck out of the fire.

1822.  R. Cox, Life Fletcher, ii. 17. His prayer hence was, ‘Save me, Lord, as a brand snatched out of the fire.’

  c.  The torches of Cupid and the Furies.

c. 1385.  Chaucer, L. G. W., 2252. The furyes thre with all hir mortall bronde.

1579.  Lyly, Euphues (Arb.), 112. So shalt thou easely … quench the brandes of Cupide.

1611.  Shaks., Cymb., II. vi. 91. Two winking Cupids … nicely Depending on their Brands.

1795.  Burke, Let., Wks. 1842, II. 245. The meditations of the closet have … inflamed armies with the brands of the furies.

  d.  Jove’s or God’s brand: the lightning. Phœbus’ brand: the burning rays of the sun. With a blending of the sense ‘weapon’: (cf. Milton’s ‘flaming brand’ of the archangel in P. L., XII. 643).

1513.  Douglas, Æneis, VIII. vi. 20. Into this land Saturnus com, fleand gret Jovis brand.

1596.  Spenser, F. Q., I. viii. 21. Where th’ Almighties lightning brond does light.

1620.  T. Peyton, Parad., in Farr’s S. P., 177. A smoky hill, which sends forth fiery brands Of burning oyle, much like the sword the tree of life doth keepe.

1885.  H. H. Gibbs, trans. Integer Vitae, in Nat. Rev., V. 750.

  e.  Applied to persons. Cf. firebrand.

1608.  Armin, Nest Ninn., 4. And you of our Innes of Court, nimble braind brands that burne without smoking.

  4.  The mark made by burning with a hot iron.

1552.  Huloet, Bronde, or marke made with a whote yron.

1601.  Holland, Pliny, I. 220. The marke or brand of a buls head which was imprinted vpon his [Bucephalus’] shoulder.

1722.  De Foe, Moll Fl. (1840), 219. My comrade, having the brand of an old offender, was executed.

1851.  Longf., Gold. Leg., iv. v. I see the scar, The brand upon your forehead.

  b.  fig. A sign or mark, sometimes in a general sense, but usually (with reference to the practice of branding criminals) conveying the idea of disgrace; a stigma, a mark of infamy.

1597.  Hooker, Eccl. Pol., V. lxv. § 11. To mark that age with the brand of error and superstition.

1628.  Prynne, Cens. Cozens, 98. Are they not a public brand and blemish to our Church?

1651.  Cleveland, Poems, 24. No Fellon is more letter’d, though the brand Both superscribes his shoulder and his hand.

1726.  De Foe, Hist. Devil, II. vi. (1840), 244. The devil could go nowhere without this particular brand of infamy.

1853.  Marsden, Early Purit., 324. The brand of that day’s infamy will never disappear from the annals of Massachusetts.

  c.  A trade-mark, whether made by burning or otherwise. (Applied to trade-marks on casks of wines or liquors, timber, metals, and any description of goods except textile fabrics.)

1827.  Motley v. Downman, 3, Mylne & Craig, Law Rep., 4. The proprietors have added the brand mark ‘Margam’ on each box.

1881.  Young, Every Man his own Mechanic, § 155. 53. Timbers from Swedish ports are marked on the ends with red letters or brands.

  5.  An iron instrument for making marks by burning, or (quot. 1828) for cauterizing a wound.

1828.  Scott, F. M. Perth, II. 159. The more I felt the pain his knife and brand inflicted, the better was my chance of recovery.

1860.  W. Collins, Wom. White, II. v. 321. Pain and fear and grief written on her as with a brand.

  6.  (transf. from 4 c.) A particular sort or class of goods, as indicated by the trade-marks on them.

1854.  Miss Warner, Old Helmet, I. 266. The ale was of a superior brand.

1864.  Reader, 25 June, 803. The most renowned dealers whose brand passes muster.

1880.  Print. Trades Jrnl., XXXI. 14. The perfume of this brand of wax is delightful.

1883.  J. D. Jerrold Kelly, in Harper’s Mag., Aug., 451/1. There are special brands of steel wire for the shrouds and stays.

  7.  A species of blight in plants, causing the leaves and young shoots to look as though they were burnt; called also BURN (cf. Ger. brand).

1639.  Horn & Robotham, Gate Lang. Unl., vi. § 52. If it be over heated, it turns to brand or mildew.

1861.  Miss Pratt, Flower. Plants, III. 386. Of truly parasitic plants some … are known by the common names of Mildew, Rust, Brand, &c.

1881.  Whitehead, Hops, 58. There are special forms of these fungi, known as rust or brand.

  II.  8. The blade of a sword or similar weapon, and hence (like ‘blade’) the sword itself. [So also in Icel. and in later times in OF. and MHG. brant: possibly from its flashing in the light.]

  † a.  Blade, weapon. Obs. (exc. as in b).

c. 1050.  Will of Æthelstan Æth., in Thorpe, Dipl., 559. Ic ʓean Eadmunde minon breðer þæs swurdes þe Offa cyng ahte … and anes brandes.

c. 1380.  Wyclif, Serm., Sel. Wks. I. 26. A swerd or a knyf … Thei myȝten … wiþdrawe þes brondis þat þus done harme.

  b.  A sword. (Cf. the poetical use of ‘blade.’) A poetical use, though in the present century writers of romance have used it in prose as an archaism.

a. 1000.  Beowulf, 2912. Hine syððan no brond ne beadomecas bitan ne meahton.

c. 1205.  Lay., 15239. He scal leosen þa hond þurh his aȝene brand.

c. 1340.  Gaw. & Gr. Knt., 1584. Braydez out a bryȝt bront, & bigly forth strydez.

c. 1400.  Destr. Troy, 7926. And I thi bane for to be with my brond egge.

c. 1440.  York Myst., xxix. 142. Yone boy with a brande Brayede me full nere.

a. 1541.  Wyatt, Psalm xxxvii. 14. They have unsheathed eke their bloody bronds.

1667.  Milton, P. L., XII. 643. Th’ Eastern side … Of Paradise … Wav’d over by that flaming Brand.

1718.  Pope, Iliad, V. 105. On his broad shoulder fell the forceful brand.

1820.  Scott, Abbot, iii. There ne’er was gentleman but who belted him with the brand.

1873.  Symonds, Grk. Poets, v. 124. My wealth’s a burly spear and brand.