label

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈleɪ.bəl/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English lable, borrowed from Old French label (“ribbon, fillet, fringe”),^[2][3][4] probably from a Germanic word with a diminutive suffix, compare Old High German lappa “flap”,^[3][5][2] and so related to lap “part of a garment”.^[3][5][6] The Old French word survives as Modern French lambeau “rag, shred”.^[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A narrow band or strip of cloth, especially in heraldry the band with pendants marking an eldest son: about 1300 in Barnhart and Etymonline, about 1320 in the OED.^[3][2][7]

Semantic evolution

A strip attached to a document to carry its seal is from before 1400 in Wycliffe.^[3] A slip of paper attached to an object to name or describe it is from 1679,^[7] from which came the sticker on a record (1907) and in turn a recording company (by 1947).^[7][2] The verb, to put a label on, is from about 1600,^[2][4] and the figurative sense “to describe or classify” from 1853.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1300 – a strip of cloth in heraldry.^[3][2]
• a. 1400 – a seal strip on a document.^[3]
• c. 1600 – verb.^[2]
• 1679 – a slip naming an object.^[7]
• 1853 – to categorize.^[2]
• by 1947 – a recording company.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A piece of paper or other material fixed to an object to give information about it; a tag.
2. A word or phrase used to describe a person or group, often unfairly.
3. A brand name, especially of a recording company.

Verb

1. To attach a label to something.
2. To describe or classify someone, often unfairly.
3. (chemistry) To mark a compound with a tracer.

Word family

• labeler
• labelable
• mislabel
• radiolabel
• off-label
• open-label
• relabel
• private label

Related words

• lap

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press