What does labelling mean?
Labelling is the process of identifying something by attaching, displaying, or assigning a label. Labels may provide a product's name, ingredients, price, instructions, warning, or other essential information, as in food labelling and warning labels. The word can also describe the act of placing a person or group into a named category, particularly when discussing education, healthcare, or social identity. In this second sense, labelling may carry a critical connotation because it suggests that complex individuals or conditions are being reduced to a fixed label. Although labelling is part of everyday commercial and administrative life, the term is often chosen in formal or critical discussion rather than for describing the simple act of writing a name on an object. British English generally spells it with two l's, while US usage prefers “labeling.”
The act or process of attaching or displaying a label, or of identifying something with a name or category.
"EU rules require clear labelling of food ingredients."
This use is common in regulatory, commercial, and academic contexts.
Attach a label to something, or identify it by assigning a name or category.
"The technician is labelling each cable with its destination."
This is the British present-participle form; the US spelling is “labeling.”
The plural is grammatically correct but uncommon because the word is normally used as an uncountable process or a mass noun.
"The labellings on the jars are difficult to read."
A “label” began as a ribbon: before modern stickers, identifying labels were often tied around the necks of bottles and containers.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does labelling come from?
The word ultimately comes from French label, which was borrowed from the Latin labellum, a diminutive of labrum, an ancient term associated with a lip, edge, or projecting flap. Medieval labels were ribbons or tags attached to objects so that they could be identified. English later extended the meaning from physical tags to written descriptions, classifications, and official names.
How labelling is actually used
The word is formal and administrative in most contexts. In social and educational settings, it can imply reductive or stigmatizing classification. British English normally uses two l's in “labelling,” while American English uses one.
Easily confused with labelling
Labelling is the standard British spelling, whereas labeling is the usual American spelling of the same word.