different between label vs token

English

Alternative forms

• labell (non-standard)

Etymology

From Middle English label (“narrow band, strip of cloth”), from Old French label, lambel (Modern French lambeau), from Frankish *lapp? (“torn piece of cloth”), from Proto-Germanic *lapp?, *lappô (“cloth stuff, rag, scraps, flap, dewlap, lobe, rabbit ear”), from Proto-Indo-European *leb- (“blade”). Cognate with Old High German lappa (“rag, piece of cloth”), Old English læppa (“skirt, flap of a garment”). More at lap.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /?le?b?l/
• Rhymes: -e?b?l

Noun

label (plural labels)

1. A small ticket or sign giving information about something to which it is attached or intended to be attached.

   Synonyms: sign, tag, ticket

2. A name given to something or someone to categorise them as part of a particular social group.

   Synonyms: category, pigeonhole

4. (music) A company that sells records.

   Synonym: record label

5. (computing) A user-defined alias for a numerical designation, the reverse of an enumeration.

6. (computing) A named place in source code that can be jumped to using a GOTO or equivalent construct.
7. (heraldry) A charge resembling the strap crossing the horse’s chest from which pendants are hung.

   Synonym: lambel

8. (obsolete) A tassel.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Huloet to this entry?)

   • 1662, Thomas Fuller, History of the Worthies of England

     the arms or escutcheon of France , hanging by a label on an oak

9. A piece of writing added to something, such as a codicil appended to a will.
10. A brass rule with sights, formerly used with a circumferentor to take altitudes.

    (Can we find and add a quotation of Knight to this entry?)

11. (architecture) The projecting moulding by the sides, and over the tops, of openings in mediaeval architecture.
12. In mediaeval art, the representation of a band or scroll containing an inscription.

    (Can we find and add a quotation of Fairholt to this entry?)

13. (graphical user interface) A non-interactive control or widget displaying text, often used to describe the purpose of another control.

Derived terms

• designer label
• record label

Descendants

Translations

Verb

label (third-person singular simple present labels, present participle (UK) labelling or (US) labeling, simple past and past participle (UK) labelled or (US) labeled)

1. (transitive) To put a label (a ticket or sign) on (something).

   The shop assistant labeled all the products in the shop.

2. (ditransitive) To give a label to (someone or something) in order to categorise that person or thing.

   He's been unfairly labeled as a cheat, although he's only ever cheated once.
3. (biochemistry) To replace specific atoms by their isotope in order to track the presence or movement of this isotope through a reaction, metabolic pathway or cell.
4. (biochemistry) To add a detectable substance, either transiently or permanently, to a biological substance in order to track the presence of the label-substance combination either in situ or in vitro
   • 2015, "Protein binder woes" (editorial), Nature Methods, 12(5) (May): 373.

     They may be used to label and image a protein within tissue, to isolate cells on the basis of marker expression, or to physically capture a protein from a complex biological mixture....

Synonyms

• (put a ticket or sign on): tag, price
• (give a label to in order to categorise): categorise, compartmentalise, peg, pigeonhole; see also Thesaurus:classify

Translations

References

• label in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• label in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• (projecting moulding in architecture): Dictionary of Architecture (Architectural Publication Society of London)

Anagrams

• Abell, Beall, Bella, be-all

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English label.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?le?b?l/

Noun

label n (plural labels, diminutive labeltje n)

1. quality label

   Max Havelaar is het bekendste fair-tradelabel.

   Max Havelaar is the most well-known fair-trade label.

2. music label

Anagrams

• balle

French

Etymology

Borrowed from English label, itself from Old French label, lambel (“fringe, strip”), 1899.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /la.b?l/

Noun

label m (plural labels)

1. quality label
2. (music) record label

Derived terms

• labelliser

Further reading

• “label” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• balle

Old French

Alternative forms

• lambeau
• lambel

Noun

label m (oblique plural labeaus or labeax or labiaus or labiax or labels, nominative singular labeaus or labeax or labiaus or labiax or labels, nominative plural label)

1. strip of fabric
2. badge; insignia

   Les armes son pere a label portoit

   His weapons bore the insignia of his father

Descendants

• ? English: label
  • ? French: label
• French: lambeau

Polish

Etymology

Borrowed from English label.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?l?j.b?l/

Noun

label m inan

1. music label

Declension

Synonyms

• wytwórnia
• wytwórnia p?ytowa

English

Etymology

From Middle English token, taken, from Old English t?cn (“sign”), from Proto-West Germanic *taikn, from Proto-Germanic *taikn?, from Proto-Indo-European *dey?- (“to show, instruct, teach”) with Germanic *k rather than *h by Kluge's law.

The verb is from Middle English toknen, from Old English t?cnian. Cognate with German Zeichen.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?t??k?n/
• (US) enPR: t?k??n IPA^(key): /?to?k?n/
• Rhymes: -??k?n

Noun

token (plural tokens)

1. Something serving as an expression of something else.

   Synonyms: sign, symbol

2. A keepsake.

   Synonyms: memento, souvenir

3. A piece of stamped metal or plastic, etc., used as a substitute for money; a voucher that can be exchanged for goods or services.

4. A small physical object, often designed to give the appearance of a common thing, used to represent a person or character in a board game or other situation.

5. A minor attempt for appearance's sake, or to minimally comply with a requirement.

   His apology was no more than a token.

   1. A member of a group of people that is included within a larger group to comply with a legal or social requirement.
6. (obsolete, sometimes figuratively) Evidence, proof; a confirming detail; physical trace, mark, footprint.
7. Support for a belief; grounds for an opinion.

   Synonyms: reason, reasoning

8. An extraordinary event serving as evidence of supernatural power.

   Synonym: miracle

9. An object or disclosure to attest or authenticate the bearer or an instruction.

   Synonym: password

10. A seal guaranteeing the quality of an item.
11. Something given or shown as a symbol or guarantee of authority or right; a sign of authenticity, of power, good faith.
    • ca. 1605, William Shakespeare, Measure fir Measure, Act IV, sc. 3:

      Say, by this token, I desire his company.

    • 1611, King James Version, Exodus 3:12:

      And he said, Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain.

12. A tally.
13. (philosophy) A particular thing to which a concept applies.
14. (computing) An atomic piece of data, such as a word, for which a meaning may be inferred during parsing.

    Synonym: symbol

    Coordinate term: placeholder

    • 2004, Randall Hyde, Write Great Code: Understanding the Machine, page 68

      For each lexeme, the scanner creates a small data package known as a token and passes this data package on to the parser.

15. (computing) A conceptual object that can be possessed by a computer, process, etc. in order to regulate a turn-taking system such as a token ring network.
16. (computing) A meaningless placeholder used as a substitute for sensitive data.
17. (grammar) A lexeme; a basic, grammatically indivisible unit of a language such as a keyword, operator or identifier.
18. (corpus linguistics) A single example of a certain word in a text or corpus.
    • 2007, Khurshid Ahmad, "Artificial Ontologies and Real Thoughts: Populating the Semantic Web?", Roberto Basili, Maria Teresa Pazienza (eds.), AI*IA 2007: Artificial Intelligence and Human-Oriented Computing, Springer-Verlag, page 10.

    Antonym: type

19. (medicine) A characteristic sign of a disease or of a bodily disorder, a symptom; a sign of a bodily condition, recovery, or health.
20. (medicine, obsolete) A livid spot upon the body, indicating, or supposed to indicate, the approach of death.

    • Like the fearful tokens of the plague, Are mere fore-runners of their ends.

21. (printing) Ten and a half quires, or, commonly, 250 sheets, of paper printed on both sides; also, in some cases, the same number of sheets printed on one side, or half the number printed on both sides.
22. (mining) A bit of leather having a peculiar mark designating a particular miner. Each hewer sends one of these with each corf or tub he has hewn.
    • 1864 August 6, "Miners and Their Grievances", The Spectator, vol. 37, No. 1884, page 902.

    • 1873, Richard Fynes, The Miners of Northumberland and Durham, page 110.

    • 1877, "Northern Industries", The Primitive Methodist Magazine, page 172.

23. (mining) A thin bed of coal indicating the existence of a thicker seam at no great distance.
24. (rail transport) A physical object used for exchange between drivers and signalmen on single track lines.
25. (weaving) In a loom, a colored signal to show the weaver which shuttle to use.
26. (Church of Scotland) A piece of metal given beforehand to each person in the congregation who is permitted to partake of the Lord's Supper.

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• (philosophy): particular, universal, type

References

Adjective

token (comparative more token, superlative most token)

1. Done as an indication or a pledge.
2. Perfunctory or merely symbolic; done or existing for appearance's sake, or to minimally comply with a requirement.

   He made a token tap on the brake pedal at the stop sign.

   • 1927, Arthur Robert Burns, Money and Monetary Policy in Early Times, page 393

     If the as had been reduced to a token in 240 BC, it was now a little more token than before.

   • 2000, Cheris Kramarae, Dale Spender, Routledge International Encyclopedia of Women, Page 176

     There are still many churches where the participation of women is token.

3. (of people) Included in minimal numbers in order to create an impression or illusion of diversity, especially ethnic or gender diversity.

   He was hired as the company's token black person.

   The television show was primarily directed toward a black audience, but it did have a few token white people as performers.

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

token (third-person singular simple present tokens, present participle tokening, simple past and past participle tokened)

1. To betoken, indicate, portend, designate, denote
   • 1398, in Hans Kurath & Sherman M. Kuhn, eds., Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan Press 1962, [[Special:BookSources/978-0-472-01044-8|?ISBN]], page 1242:

     dorr??, d?r? adj. & n. […] Golden or reddish-yellow […] (a. 1398) *Trev. Barth. 59b/a: ?elou? colour [of urine] […] tokeneþ febleness of hete […] dorrey & citrine & li?t red tokeneþ mene.

   • 1928, Edmund Blunden, Undertones of War, Penguin 2010, p. 149:

     The instinct revolted against the inevitable punishment to come, already tokened by those big holes now met in walls and crossings.
2. To betroth
3. (philosophy) To symbolize, instantiate

Derived terms

• betoken
• foretoken

References

• Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

Dutch

Etymology

From English token.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?to?k?(n)/

Noun

token m or n (plural tokens, diminutive tokentje n)

1. (computing) token, an atomic piece of data.

Usage notes

There is no general agreement about the gender. In the south, people tend to use neuter, whereas in the north, masculine is preferred.

Anagrams

• knoet

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old English t?cn, from Proto-Germanic *taikn? (“sign, token, symbol”).

Noun

token (plural tokenes)

1. token (a physical object representing an action, concept, etc.)
2. omen, portent
3. token (support for a belief)
4. prearranged signal
5. token (momento, keepsake)
6. A flag, banner, standard associated with a person or event.
7. model, example
8. guarantee
9. (astronomy) celestial body
10. (astrology) astrological sign

Alternative forms

• tokene, tokin, tokine, tokon, tokne, tocne, toquen
• taken, takein, takin, takine (Northern)
• taken, takein, takin, takine, tacn, tacne, tacnæ, tockne (early)

Descendants

• English: token
• Scots: taiken

References

• “t?ken, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 2

Noun

token (uncountable)

1. (before g-) Alternative form of tukinge

Etymology 3

Verb

token

1. simple past plural of taken

Alternative forms

• toke, tok, tokon, teken, takede
• tocken (early southwest Midlands)
• tocan (early)

Verb

token

1. Alternative form of taken: past participle of taken

Swedish

Noun

token

1. definite singular of tok

Anagrams

• keton