Label

How to spell label

5 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce label

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does label mean?

1. nounA small slip of paper, fabric, or material attached to an object to give information about it.
2. verbTo attach a label to something, or to describe or categorise a person or thing.

Label in a sentence

• noun

  The price label was still stuck to the bottom of the vase.

• verb

  Please label every box before the movers arrive.

• noun

  Check the washing instructions on the label inside the collar.

• verb

  Reporters were quick to label the policy a failure.

Where does label come from?

Language of origin: French

The word entered English in the 1300s from Old French, where 'label' (also spelled 'lambel') meant a narrow strip or ribbon, especially a band of fabric used as a fringe or hanging ornament. The original sense pointed to something dangling, a strip attached to a garment or a seal. From there the meaning broadened to any small slip of paper or material fixed to an object to identify it. By the modern era it had also grown a figurative sense: a word or phrase used to categorise a person or thing. The spelling trap is the single 'l' in the middle and the '-el' ending, which tempts writers toward a doubled 'l' or an '-le' finish, neither of which is correct.

How the word is built

• label (from Old French lambel: a strip or ribbon); no separable affixes in modern English