Definitions
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. In England, an official stamp put upon articles made of gold and silver as an evidence of genuineness: so called from Goldsmiths' Hall in London, the seat of the Goldsmiths' Company, by whom the, stamping is legally regulated. It consists of various marks placed close together, as follows: the mark indicating the standard, as, for silver of the new standard, a figure of Britannia and a lion's head erased; the mark of the assay-town, as a crown for Sheffield or an anchor for Birmingham; a mark denoting that the duty has been paid; the date-mark, consisting of a letter of the alphabet for each year, in series of differing style or design; the maker's mark, usually two or more initial letters; the workman's mark, which is not always present.
- n. Hence Any mark of genuineness, good quality, or respectability.
- To assay and stamp, as with the official mark of the Goldsmiths' Company.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. The official stamp of the Goldsmiths' Company and other assay offices, in the United Kingdom, on gold and silver articles, attesting their purity.
- n. A distinguishing characteristic or characteristics.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a distinctive characteristic or attribute
- n. a mark on an article of trade to indicate its origin and authenticity
Examples
“Old Ahuna was one of the real old ones with the hall-mark on him and branded into him of faithful born-slave service.”
“That I am marked with the hall-mark of gentlehood there is no discussion ... unless either of you care to discuss the matter now ...”
“Sitka Charley was an Indian; his criteria were primitive; but his word was flat, and his verdict a hall-mark in every camp under the circle.”
“A white man in these islands, the reader is told, needs to be both careful and lucky: He must have the hall-mark of the inevitable white man stamped upon his soul.”
“Senate to speak forcefully of the incompetence which is the hall-mark of the entire Iraq debacle.”
Obtained: A Tape Of Reid's Conference Call With Bloggers -- Reid Did Blast Pace
“For the daughters of the aristocracy, this meant presentation at Court. it commonly occurred when a young woman reached the age of eighteen and was, in the words of one etiquette book "the hall-mark demanded of those who aspire to fashionable life.”
“This is a hall-mark of mutual trustin your child and your being a reasonable, firm parent.”
“It is practically a hall-mark of the ideology, because, of course, this time, our enlightened betters will finally get it right.”
The Volokh Conspiracy » Obama Administration Continues to Defend State Secrets:
“Canada's armed forces are increasingly safely irrelevant there but rather the automatic uncritical political backing of Washington's bully tactics which have become a hall-mark of Harper's foreign policy.”
“His Majesty laughed heartily enough; any speech that bore the hall-mark of wit was certain to please him; but he nevertheless replied with one of those royal pleasantries whose sweetness is more formidable than the anger of a rebuke.”
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