Trademarks

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Legal signs or symbols that denote ownership of particular goods or services; distinctive marks used to identify a specific brand or company; recognized names or logos that differentiate products in the marketplace
2. Symbols or names legally registered to signify a specific company's products or services; identifiers that protect brand recognition and prevent misuse; unique signs reflecting the origin and reputation of goods offered to consumers
3. Registered designs or labels granting exclusive rights to their owners for particular goods; distinctive indicators that provide a competitive edge in marketing; recognizable emblems that represent a business's quality and credibility

Etymology: "Trademarks" is the plural of "trademark," a compound of "trade" and "mark." The second element is the older and more interesting one: "mark" comes from Old English "mearc," meaning a boundary or limit, and the idea of a boundary marker gradually became the idea of a sign that distinguishes one thing from another. "Trade" likewise traces back through Middle English to a sense of path or course, before it came to mean buying and selling. Put together, the compound describes a sign that sets one producer's goods apart from another's. The plural simply reflects that a business may hold several such signs, each guarding a different product or name.

Synonyms: brands, logos, labels, designs, identifiers