hallmark

See also: Hallmark

English

Etymology

1721. hall +‎ mark, from Goldsmiths' Hall in London, the site of the assay office, official stamp of purity in gold and silver articles. The general sense of "mark of quality" first recorded 1864. Use as a verb from 1773.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈhɔlmɑɹk/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈhɔːlmɑːk/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

Noun

hallmark (plural hallmarks)

1. A distinguishing characteristic.
   • 2011 February 1, Phil McNulty, “Arsenal 2 - 1 Everton”, in BBC‎^[1]:

     Arsene Wenger's side showed little of the style and fluidity that is their hallmark but this was about digging deep and getting the job done, qualities they demonstrated and that will serve them well as the season reaches its climax.

2. An official marking made by a trusted party, usually an assay office, on items made of precious metals.
   • 2007, John Zerzan John, Silence:

     It can highlight our embodiment, a qualitative step away from the hallmark machines that work so resolutely to disembody us.

Translations

a distinct characteristic

• Bulgarian: белег (bg) m (beleg), критерий (bg) m (kriterij)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 標誌／标志 (zh) (biāozhì), 特徵／特征 (zh) (tèzhēng)

• Czech: charakteristika (cs) f, specifikum n, charakteristický znak m
• Dutch: kenmerk (nl) n, kenteken (nl) n, merkteken (nl) n
• Finnish: tuntomerkki (fi), tunnusmerkki (fi)
• French: marque de fabrique (fr) f
• German: Kennzeichen (de) n
• Hungarian: (fő (hu)/legfőbb) (hu) ismertetőjegy (hu), ismertetőjel (hu), stílusjegy (hu), jellegzetesség (hu), sajátosság (hu), jellemző/legjellemzőbb vonás/sajátosság
• Ingrian: tunnusmerkki
• Italian: segno caratteristico m, elemento caratteristico m
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: kjennetegn (no) n

  Nynorsk: kjenneteikn n

• Portuguese: característica (pt) f, traço (pt) m distintivo (pt)
• Russian: при́знак (ru) m (príznak), крите́рий (ru) m (kritɛ́rij), си́мвол (ru) m (símvol), знак (ru) m (znak)
• Slovene: značilnost f
• Spanish: distintivo (es) m
• Swedish: kännetecken (sv)
• Vietnamese: dấu ấn

an official marking

• Bulgarian: клеймо (bg) n (klejmo)
• Czech: punc (cs) m
• Dutch: stempel (nl) n
• Finnish: tunnus (fi)
• French: poinçon (fr) m
• German: Repunze f, Punze (de) f
• Hungarian: fémjel (hu), fémjelzés (hu)
• Japanese: 太鼓判 (ja) (たいこばん, taikoban), 極印 (ごくいん, gokuin)
• Polish: cecha probiercza f, próba (pl) f
• Portuguese: cunho (pt) m
• Russian: про́ба (ru) f (próba), клеймо́ (ru) n (klejmó)

Verb

hallmark (third-person singular simple present hallmarks, present participle hallmarking, simple past and past participle hallmarked)

1. To provide or stamp with a hallmark.
   • 1905, Baroness Emmuska Orczy, chapter 2, in The Ayrsham Mystery‎^[2]:

     The cane was undoubtedly of foreign make, for it had a solid silver ferrule at one end, which was not English hall–marked.

Translations

to provide or stamp with a hallmark

• Dutch: merken (nl)
• Hungarian: fémjelez (hu), fémjellel ellát

See also

• benchmark