VocabularyBasePractice words

Meaning & use

digital watermark

noun·Advancedtechnicalcomputing

Last updated

UK/ˌdɪdʒɪtl ˈwɔːtəmɑːk/
US/ˌdɪdʒɪtl ˈwɔtərmɑrk/

Meaning

  1. nouncountabletechnicalcomputing

    A mark or pattern added to an image, video, audio file or document, either visible or hidden, to show who owns it.

    Grammar: Countable: add a digital watermark to each photo.

    Patterns

    • add a digital watermark to something
    • embed a digital watermark in something

    The photographer added a digital watermark to every image she posted online.

    A hidden digital watermark helped the studio trace the leaked film.

    You can see a faint digital watermark across the stock photo.

Word forms

pluraldigital watermarks

Common combinations

embed a digital watermark
The software can embed a digital watermark in each file.
invisible digital watermark
An invisible digital watermark carries the owner's code.
remove a digital watermark
It is illegal in many places to remove a digital watermark.
detect a digital watermark
The tool can detect a digital watermark in a copied video.
add a digital watermark
Always add a digital watermark before sharing preview images.

Synonyms and how they differ

watermark
Watermark alone is broader and also covers marks in paper, whereas digital watermark is only for electronic files.
digital fingerprint
A digital fingerprint identifies a file by its content or a particular copy, while a watermark is a mark deliberately added to it.
copyright notice
A copyright notice is a plain statement of ownership, while a digital watermark is embedded in the file itself.

Word family

watermark noun
a faint design in paper or an image
watermark verb
to add such a mark
watermarking noun
the process of adding a mark
digital adjective
stored or sent as electronic data

Commonly confused: digital watermark or digital signature?

digital watermark vs digital signature

A digital signature proves who sent a document and that it was not changed; a digital watermark marks ownership of the content.

Practice

To trace who leaked the film, the studio had hidden a ___ in each copy.

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “digital watermark”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

Your sentence stays on this page and is not sent anywhere.

Explore more words