Also 4–6 brond(e, 5 bronne. [f. prec.]
1. trans. To burn with a hot iron, whether for the purpose of marking the flesh (as in the case of criminals or slaves), or of cauterizing as a surgical operation; also fig.
c. 1400. Apol. Loll., 103. Hauing þer consciens iren brondit.
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 53. Bronnyn wythe an yren [1499 brondyn], cauterizo.
1615. G. Sandys, Trav., 109. Both men and women do brand their armes for the loue of each other.
1753. Scots Mag., Feb., 97/1. The former is to be branded and imprisoned.
1852. Mrs. Stowe, Uncle Tom’s C., xi. 91. Has been branded in his right hand with the letter H.
2. To mark indelibly, as a proof of ownership, as a sign of quality, or for any other purpose; to impress (a word, letter or device) by way of brand.
1587. Golding, De Mornay, xii. 177. Thou wouldest that God should at leastwise brond him with the broade arrow.
1681. Cotton, Wond. Peak (ed. 4), 43. Every step did brand Assured footing in the yielding sand.
1805. Luccock, Nat. Wool, 113. When sheep are not branded with pitch, or any other substance injurious to the staple.
1879. Cassell’s Techn. Educ., IV. 253/2. The mark was the letters ‘M. C.’ branded on tin-plates.
b. fig. To set a mental mark of ownership upon; also, to impress (a fact, an event) indelibly on one’s memory.
1602. Warner, Alb. Eng., XI. lxiii. (1612), 273. The greene knight, be whoso he shall, her heart had branded hers.
1848. Kingsley, Saint’s Trag., V. i. 226. To brand upon your thoughts How she was once a woman.
1875. Jowett, Plato (ed. 2), III. 531. I was able to recall every word of this, which is branded into my mind.
1879. Farrar, St. Paul (1883), 114. Words and utterances … branded indelibly upon the memory.
3. fig. To mark or stamp with infamy, stigmatize.
1625. Bacon, Atheism, Ess. (Arb.), 337. All … are branded with the Name of Atheists.
a. 1674. Clarendon, Hist. Reb. (1702), I. III. 215. They intended by some Vote to Brand him, and make him odious.
1771. Cumberland, West Ind., IV. iv. Brand me for a coward if I baulk you.
a. 1853. Robertson, Lect., ii. 61. Dare we brand infidelity with hard names?
