Hallmark

How to spell hallmark

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce hallmark

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does hallmark mean?

1. nounA distinctive feature or quality that identifies the true character or origin of something.
2. nounAn official stamp impressed on gold, silver, or platinum to certify its purity.
3. verbTo stamp a precious metal item with an official mark certifying its purity.

Hallmark in a sentence

• noun

  Patience and clear writing are the hallmark of a good editor.

• noun

  The jeweller examined the tiny hallmark to confirm the ring was solid silver.

• verb

  The assay office will hallmark every piece before it goes on sale.

• noun

  The report carried every hallmark of careful research.

• noun

  Each spoon bore a hallmark guaranteeing the sterling standard.

• verb

  By law they must hallmark any gold sold above a set weight.

Where does hallmark come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

The word hallmark comes quite literally from a building: Goldsmiths' Hall in the City of London, where, from the fourteenth century onwards, gold and silver items were brought to be officially tested and stamped for purity. The 'hall' is that assay hall, and the 'mark' is the punched stamp that certified the metal met the legal standard. By the early 1700s the compound 'hall-mark' was recorded as the name for this guarantee stamp, and over the 1800s it broadened into the figurative sense of any distinctive, telltale feature that identifies something's true character. The spelling is reassuringly transparent once you know the story, since it is simply the two ordinary English words 'hall' and 'mark' joined together, the only trap being the doubled 'l' carried over from 'hall'. Today most people meet it in the figurative sense, never suspecting that the term still points back to a specific London livery hall.

How the word is built

• hall (from Goldsmiths' Hall in London)
• mark (a stamp or sign)