label Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a brief description given for purposes of identification
    • the label Modern is applied to many different kinds of architecture
  2. noun trade name of a company that produces musical recordings
    recording label.
    • the artists and repertoire department of a recording label is responsible for finding new talent
  3. noun a radioactive isotope that is used in a compound in order to trace the mechanism of a chemical reaction
  4. noun an identifying or descriptive marker that is attached to an object
  5. verb assign a label to; designate with a label
    • These students were labelled `learning disabled'
  6. verb attach a tag or label to
    mark; tag.
    • label these bottles
  7. verb pronounce judgment on
    judge; pronounce.
    • They labeled him unfit to work here
  8. verb distinguish (as a compound or molecule) by introducing a labeled atom
  9. verb distinguish (an element or atom) by using a radioactive isotope or an isotope of unusual mass for tracing through chemical reactions

WordNet

La"bel noun
Etymology
OF. label sort of ribbon or fringe, label in heraldry, F. lambeau shred, strip, rag; of uncertain origin; cf. L.labellum, dim. of labrum lip, edge, margin, G. lappen flap, patch, rag, tatter (cf. Lap of a dress), W. llab, llabed, label, flap, Gael. leab, leob, slice, shred, hanging lip.
Definitions
  1. A tassel. Obs. Huloet. Fuller.
  2. A slip of silk, paper, parchment, etc., affixed to anything, usually by an inscription, the contents, ownership, destination, etc.; as, the label of a bottle or a package.
  3. A slip of ribbon, parchment, etc., attached to a document to hold the appended seal; also, the seal.
  4. A writing annexed by way of addition, as a codicil added to a will.
  5. (Her.) A barrulet, or, rarely, a bendlet, with pendants, or points, usually three, especially used as a mark of cadency to distinguish an eldest or only son while his father is still living.
  6. A brass rule with sights, formerly used, in connection with a circumferentor, to take altitudes. Knight.
  7. (Gothic Arch.) The name now generally given to the projecting molding by the sides, and over the tops, of openings in mediæval architecture. It always has a quare form, as in the illustration. Arch. Pub. Soc.
  8. In mediæval art, the representation of a band or scroll containing an inscription. Fairholt.
La"bel transitive verb
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Labeled or Labelled; present participle & verbal noun Labeling or Labelling
Definitions
  1. To affix a label to; to mark with a name, etc.; as, to label a bottle or a package.
  2. To affix in or on a label. R.

Webster 1913