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hallmark

 - 3 dictionary results

hall⋅mark

  [hawl-mahrk]
Use hallmark in a Sentence
–noun
1. an official mark or stamp indicating a standard of purity, used in marking gold and silver articles assayed by the Goldsmiths' Company of London; plate mark.
2. any mark or special indication of genuineness, good quality, etc.
3. any distinguishing feature or characteristic: Accuracy is a hallmark of good scholarship.
–verb (used with object)
4. to stamp or imprint (something) with a hallmark.
Origin:
1715–25; Goldsmiths' Hall, London, the seat of the Goldsmiths' Company + mark 1

Related forms:
hallmarker, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To hallmark
hall·mark   (hôl'märk')   
n.  

  1. A mark indicating quality or excellence.

  2. A mark used in England to stamp gold and silver articles that meet established standards of purity.

  3. A conspicuous feature or characteristic: "The sense of guilt is the hallmark of civilized humanity" (Theodor Reik).

tr.v.   hall·marked, hall·mark·ing, hall·marks
To stamp (gold and silver articles) with a mark indicating purity.

[After Goldsmith's Hall in London, England, where gold and silver articles were appraised and stamped.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

hallmark 
1721, official stamp of purity in gold and silver articles, from Goldsmiths' Hall in London, site of the assay office. General sense of "mark of quality" first recorded 1864.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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