What is "label"

Label \La"bel\ (l[=a]"b[e^]l), n. [OF. label sort of ribbon or fringe, label in heraldry, F. lambeau shred, strip, rag; of uncertain origin; cf. L. labellum, dim. of labrum lip, edge, margin, G. lappen flap, patch, rag, tatter (cf. Lap of a dress), W. llab, llabed, label, flap, Gael. leab, leob, slice, shred, hanging lip.]

1. A tassel. [Obs.]
   --Huloet.
   --Fuller.

2. A slip of silk, paper, parchment, etc., affixed to anything, and indicating, usually by an inscription, the contents, ownership, destination, etc.; as, the label of a bottle or a package.

3. A slip of ribbon, parchment, etc., attached to a document to hold the appended seal; also, the seal.

4. A writing annexed by way of addition, as a codicil added to a will.

5. (Her.) A barrulet, or, rarely, a bendlet, with pendants, or points, usually three, especially used as a mark of cadency to distinguish an eldest or only son while his father is still living.

6. A brass rule with sights, formerly used, in connection with a circumferentor, to take altitudes.
   --Knight.

7. (Gothic Arch.) The name now generally given to the projecting molding by the sides, and over the tops, of openings in medi[ae]val architecture. It always has a square form, as in the illustration.
   --Arch. Pub. Soc.

8. In medi[ae]val art, the representation of a band or scroll containing an inscription.
   --Fairholt.

Label \La"bel\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Labeled (l[=a]"b[e^]ld) or Labelled; p. pr. & vb. n. Labeling or Labelling.]

1. To affix a label to; to mark with a name, etc.; as, to label a bottle or a package.

2. To affix in or on a label. [R.]

c.1300, "narrow band or strip of cloth" (oldest use is as a technical term in heraldry), from Old French label, lambel "ribbon, fringe worn on clothes" (13c., Modern French lambeau "strip, rag, shred, tatter"), possibly from Frankish *labba or some other Germanic source (compare Old High German lappa "flap"), from Proto-Germanic *lapp- (see lap (n.)).\n

\nLater "dangling strip of cloth or ribbon used as an ornament in dress," "strip attached to a document to hold a seal" (both early 15c.), and with a general meaning "tag, sticker, slip of paper" (1670s). Meaning "circular piece of paper in the center of a gramophone record" (1907), containing information about the recorded music, led to meaning "a recording company" (1947).

"to affix a label to," c.1600, see label (n.); figurative sense of "to categorize" is from 1853. Related: Labeled; labeling; labelled; labelling.

n. 1 A small ticket or sign giving information about something to which it is attached or intended to be attached. 2 A name given to something or someone to categorise them as part of a particular social group. 3 A company that sells records. 4 (context computing English) A user-defined alias for a numerical designation, the reverse of an enumeration. 5 (context computing English) A named place in source code that can be jumped to using a GOTO or equivalent construct. 6 (context heraldiccharge English) A charge resembling the strap crossing the horse’s chest from which pendants are hung. 7 (context obsolete English) A tassel. 8 A piece of writing added to something, such as a codicil appended to a will. 9 A brass rule with sights, formerly used with a circumferentor to take altitudes. 10 (context architecture English) The projecting moulding by the sides, and over the tops, of openings in mediaeval architecture. 11 In mediaeval art, the representation of a band or scroll containing an inscription. vb. 1 (context transitive English) To put a label (a ticket or sign) on (something). 2 (context transitive English) To give a label to (someone or something) in order to categorise that person or thing.

1. n. a brief description given for purposes of identification; "the label Modern is applied to many different kinds of architecture"

2. trade name of a company that produces musical recordings; "the artists and repertoire department of a recording label is responsible for finding new talent" [syn: recording label]

3. a radioactive isotope that is used in a compound in order to trace the mechanism of a chemical reaction

4. an identifying or descriptive marker that is attached to an object

5. v. assign a label to; designate with a label; "These students were labelled `learning disabled'"

6. attach a tag or label to; "label these bottles" [syn: tag, mark]

7. pronounce judgment on; "They labeled him unfit to work here" [syn: pronounce, judge]

8. distinguish (as a compound or molecule) by introducing a labeled atom

9. distinguish (an element or atom) by using a radioactive isotope or an isotope of unusual mass for tracing through chemical reactions

10. [also: labelling, labelled]

In heraldry, a label is a charge resembling the strap crossing the horse’s chest from which pendants are hung. It is usually a mark of difference, but has sometimes been borne simply as a charge in its own right.

The pendants were originally drawn in a rectangular shape, but in later years have often been drawn as dovetails. The label is almost always placed in the chief. In most cases the horizontal band extends right across the shield, but there are several examples in which the band is truncated.

In computing, label is a command included with some operating systems (e.g., DOS, OS/2 and Microsoft Windows). It is used to create, change, or delete a volume label on a logical drive, such as a hard disk partition or a floppy disk. Used without parameters, label changes the current volume label or deletes the existing label.

In Unix and other Unix-like operating systems, the name of the equivalent command differs from file system to file system. For instance, the command [[e2label]] can be used for ext2 partitions.

A label is any kind of tag attached to something so as to identify the object or its content.

Label may also refer to:

• Label (heraldry), a charge closely resembling the strap with pendants which, from the saddle, crossed the horse's chest
• Mental disorder
• Label, an older term for a long thin device, in particular, a ruler as on an astrolabe, circumferentor, or similar instrument
• Label, an identifier
• Label, in a legal context may mean amend, append, or codicil
• Label mould or hood mould, architectural moulding above windows to throw-off rainwater
• Labeling (map design), or cartographic labeling, is a form of typography and strongly deals with form, style, weight and size of type on a map
• Labelling, describing someone or something in a word or short phrase
• Labeling theory, or social reaction theory, a theory in sociology which ascribes labelling of people to control and identification of deviant behavior
• Isotopic labeling, a technique for tracking the passage of a sample of substance through a system
• Museum label for exhibitions in museums
• Packaging and labelling
• Revision tag, a textual label associated with a specific revision of a project

Labels in Mac OS are a type of seven distinct, colored parameters of metadata that can be attributed to files, folders and disks in the operating system. The labels were introduced in System 7 and were kept until the release of Mac OS 9. Mac OS X versions 10.0, 10.1 and 10.2 lacked the attribute, which was reintroduced in Mac OS X version 10.3, though not without criticism.

The labels in Mac OS X let the user give colored backgrounds to System items in three different types of views, through the action menu applicable to the selected icon.

In the older pre-Mac OS X versions the choice of a color would cause the icon to completely wash itself out in that color, losing some distinct traits in the process. The new label feature here applies color only to the background of file names. When a labeled item is selected in Mac OS X column view, a colored dot after the name indicates the label.

There is a choice of seven colors, which cannot easily be exchanged for other colors. The names of the colors however can be changed at will, to represent categories assigned to the label colors (both label colors and names can be customized in pre-OS X systems, however; Mac OS 8 and 9 provided this functionality through the Labels tab in the Finder Preferences dialog, while System 7 provided a separate Labels control panel). Labels in OS 9 and earlier were specific to an individual install; Booting into another install, be it on another Mac or different disk would show different colors and names unless set identically.

A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, polymer, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product, on which is written or printed information about the product. Information printed directly on a container or article can also be considered labeling.

Labels have many uses, including providing information on a product's origin, use, shelf-life and disposal, some or all of which may be governed by legislation such as that for food in the UK or USA. Methods of production and attachment to packaging are many and various and may also be subject to internationally recognised standards.

In sociology, the word labelling is used more as a metaphor, than a concrete concept. The general function of labels are widely known and recognized as a method of distinction that helps people recognize one product from another. In social terms, labels represent a way of differentiating and identifying people that is considered by many as a form of prejudice and discrimination.

The most common method of 'labeling' people derives from a general way of perceiving members of a certain nationality, religion, ethnicity, gender, or some other group. When a majority of people hold a certain point of view towards a certain group, that point of view becomes a stereotype. That stereotype affects the way other people perceive the groups in question and the result is a 'label' that is metaphorically imposed on the members of the group in question. A member of a targeted group is thus 'labeled' by the larger society, and along with it, the nuances underlying the label, be it positive or negative, that aids in the formation of social stereotypes.

A label is a graphical control element which displays text on a form. It is usually a static control; having no interactivity. A label is generally used to identify a nearby text box or other widget. Some labels can respond to events such as mouse clicks, allowing the text of the label to be copied, but this is not standard user-interface practice. Labels usually cannot be given the focus, although in applications written in Java using the Swing toolkit, labels can be focused through tabbing. By contrast, in native Microsoft Windows applications, labels cannot be focused by this method.

There is also a similar control known as a link label. Unlike a standard label, a link label looks and acts like a hyperlink, and can be selected and activated. This control may have features such as changing colour when clicked or hovered over.

A label in a programming language is a sequence of characters that identifies a location within source code. In most languages labels take the form of an identifier, often followed by a punctuation character (e.g., a colon). In many high level programming languages the purpose of a label is to act as the destination of a [[GOTO]] statement. In assembly language labels can be used anywhere an address can (for example, as the operand of a [[JMP (x86 instruction)|JMP]] or [[MOV (x86 instruction)|MOV]] instruction). Also in Pascal and its derived variations. Some languages, such as Fortran and BASIC, support numeric labels. Labels are also used to identify an entry point into a compiled sequence of statements (e.g., during debugging).

In philately, label or coupon or tab is a part of sheet of stamps separated from them with perforation (or narrow white margin in imperforate stamps). It cannot be used for postage because it does not have face value and any indication of a postal administration that issued such stamps with labels. The notion of label should not be messed up with the term " gutter" or with a margin of a stamp sheet.

Sometimes, label is also a stamp-like adhesive of no postal value, often used for promotional purposes.

Soviet Union 1970 CPA 3868 stamp with label (Friendship Tree, Sochi with label).jpg| Stamp of the Soviet Union with a label dedicated to the Tree of Friendship in Sochi (1970) of Russia with an intermediate label dedicated to the Russian painter and writer Vasily Vereshchagin (1992) US 1966 5c Cassatt with Zippy.jpg|Mr. ZIP on a stamp sheet margin (not a label!). An US postage stamp (1966) featuring "The Boating Party" painted by Mary Cassatt in 1893–1894