Introduction
You might already know one meaning of ‘label’ – a piece of paper, card or other material that you can attach to something. But do you know these four other meanings? Get to know the word ‘label’ with Becca!
4 meanings of ‘label’
information about something
A label tells you information, such as the name, description or category of something.
- I always check the labels of food in the supermarket.
- Can you check if that has a gluten-free label on it? I’m allergic!
judgement about someone
If you label someone, you give them a general, stereotypical description, usually based on only one part of their character.
- You shouldn’t label people just because of their style. They could wear dark clothes and have a bright personality.
- I’ve been labelled as lazy just because I don’t enjoy football, but in class, I work twice as hard as everyone. It’s not a fair label.
music company
A record label is a company that produces and distributes music.
- My favourite band has just signed a contract with a famous record label. I’m so proud of them!
- That singer has just signed with a major label – she’s going to be famous soon!
(axis) label
An axis label lets you know what variables graph is measuring, which can help to show a trend in data.
- The axis labels tell us that this graph shows the number of people shopping with us in each month of this year.
- Don’t forget to label your axes in the question about graph, otherwise you will lose a mark!
TRANSCRIPT
Note: This is not a word-for-word transcript.
Becca
This is a label. Do you know these other meanings of ‘label’? A label can give information like a name, description or category.
Example
I always check the labels of food in the supermarket.
Becca
We can label people based on a judgement we have about them.
Example
You shouldn’t label people just because of their style. They could wear dark clothes and have a bright personality.
Becca
In the music industry, a label is a company that produces and distributes music.
Example
My favourite band has just signed a contract with a famous record label. I’m so proud of them!
Becca
And finally, with data, an axis label gives us context for the trends on a graph.
Example
The x-axis shows the number of people shopping with us, and the y-axis shows the months of this year.
Becca
Which meanings of ‘label’ are new for you?