Hallmark
name, noun, verb ·Moderate ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 A distinguishing characteristic. figuratively
"You know what a university is, and a university degree? It is the necessary hallmark of a man who wants to do anything in teaching."
- 2 a distinctive characteristic or attribute of someone or something wordnet
- 3 An official marking made by a trusted party, usually an assay office, on items made of precious metals.
"It can highlight our embodiment, a qualitative step away from the hallmark machines that work so resolutely to disembody us."
- 4 a mark on an article of trade to indicate its origin and authenticity wordnet
- 1 To provide or stamp with a hallmark.
"The cane was undoubtedly of foreign make, for it had a solid silver ferrule at one end, which was not English hall–marked."
- 1 A surname.
- 2 Ellipsis of Hallmark Cards. abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis
Example
More examples"A certain hallmark of wisdom is the cheerful benevolence it confers."
Etymology
1721. From 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.
The company is named after its founder, J. C. Hall, and a reference to hallmark (“official marking”).
Related phrases
More for "hallmark"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.