1. [n]  a cutting or thrusting weapon with a long blade
2. [n]  a recognizable kind; "there's a new brand of hero in the movies now"; "what make of car is that?"
3. [n]  a symbol of disgrace or infamy; "And the Lord set a mark upon Cain"--Genesis
4. [n]  identification mark on skin, made by burning
5. [n]  a name given to a product or service
6. [n]  a piece of wood that has been burned or is burning
7. [v]  mark or expose as infamous; "She was branded a loose woman"
8. [v]  to accuse or condemn or openly or formally or brand as disgraceful; "He denounced the government action"; "She was stigmatized by society because she had a child out of wedlock"
9. [v]  burn with a branding iron to indicate ownership; of animals

Brand
Brand was Ibsen`s first masterpiece, a poetic drama composed in 1865 and published to tremendous critical and popular acclaim. The unsparing vision of a priest driven by faith to risk and witness the deaths of his wife and child gives Brand its icy ferocity. When he was writing it in Italy, Ibsen declared: `It is blessedly peaceful out here; no one I know; I read nothing but the Bible ...` Geoffrey Hill provides a new Preface to this third and revised edition of his great stage version of Brand.

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1. \Brand\, n. [OE. brand, brond, AS. brand brond brand,
   sword, from byrnan, beornan, to burn; akin to D., Dan., Sw.,
   & G. brand brand, Icel. brandr a brand, blade of a sword.
   [root]32. See {Burn}, v. t., and cf. {Brandish}.]
   1. A burning piece of wood; or a stick or piece of wood
      partly burnt, whether burning or after the fire is
      extinct.
            Snatching a live brand from a wigwam, Mason threw it
            on a matted roof.                     --Palfrey.
   2. A sword, so called from its glittering or flashing
      brightness. [Poetic] --Tennyson.
            Paradise, so late their happy seat, Waved over by
            that flaming brand.                   --Milton.
   3. A mark made by burning with a hot iron, as upon a cask, to
      designate the quality, manufacturer, etc., of the
      contents, or upon an animal, to designate ownership; --
      also, a mark for a similar purpose made in any other way,
      as with a stencil. Hence, figurately: Quality; kind;
      grade; as, a good brand of flour.
   4. A mark put upon criminals with a hot iron. Hence: Any mark
      of infamy or vice; a stigma.
            The brand of private vice.            --Channing.
   5. An instrument to brand with; a branding iron.
   6. (Bot.) Any minute fungus which produces a burnt appearance
      in plants. The brands are of many species and several
      genera of the order {Puccini[ae]i}.
   

2. \Brand\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Branded}; p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Branding}.].
   1. To burn a distinctive mark into or upon with a hot iron,
      to indicate quality, ownership, etc., or to mark as
      infamous (as a convict).
   2. To put an actual distinctive mark upon in any other way,
      as with a stencil, to show quality of contents, name of
      manufacture, etc.
   3. Fig.: To fix a mark of infamy, or a stigma, upon.
            The Inquisition branded its victims with infamy.
                                                  --Prescott.
            There were the enormities, branded and condemned by
            the first and most natural verdict of common
            humanity.                             --South.
   4. To mark or impress indelibly, as with a hot iron.
            As if it were branded on my mind.     --Geo. Eliot.