icon
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈaɪ.kɒn/
ipa: /ˈaɪ.kən/
ipa: /ˈaɪ.kɑn/
rhymes: -aɪkɒn
rhymes: (UK) -aɪkən
Forms: form: icons
form: eikon
form: ikon
Etymology: From Latin īcōn, from Ancient Greek εἰκών (eikṓn, “likeness, image, portrait”). Eastern Orthodox Church sense is attested from 1833. Computing sense first recorded in 1982.
Senses: synonyms: word: idol
word: graven image
glosses: An image, symbol, picture, portrait, or other representation usually as an object of religious devotion.
examples: text: Last week the Archdiocese sent emmissaries to investigate the icon and decided that the tears were not a hoax, Father Koufos said.
ref: 1986 December 22, “‘Weeping Virgin’ Icon Draws Throngs To Chicago”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
topics: Christianity
Eastern-Christianity
lifestyle
religion
glosses: A type of religious painting portraying a saint or scene from Scripture, often done on wooden panels.
examples: text: That man is an icon in the business; he personifies loyalty and good business sense.
text: Only a handful of rock musicians have become genuine icons - larger-than-life symbolic figures whose personal triumphs and vicissitudes seem to mirror the ups and downs of rock as a whole, and sometimes of the society that nurtures it. Often, rock icons become the objects of personality cults that tend to overshadow their musical accomplishments.
ref: 1981 May 31, Robert Palmer, “Two Icons of Rock Music”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
text: Barbie is viewed as an icon of American culture in her new biography, Barbie: Her Life and Times (Crown, $25), written by Billy Boy, a clothing and jewelry designer in Paris.
ref: 1987 December 23, “Barbie: Doll, Icon Or Sexist Symbol?”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
synonyms: word: archetype
word: byspel
word: case
word: case in point
word: embodiment
word: epitome
word: eponym
word: exemplar
word: exemplification
word: example
word: exemplificator
word: Exhibit A
word: illustration
word: incarnation
word: instance
word: prototype
word: quintessence
word: representative
word: sample
word: specimen
word: symbol
word: ur-type
word: archetype
word: epitome
word: example
word: exemplar
word: icon
word: model
word: paradigm
word: paragon
word: pattern
word: quintessence
word: template
glosses: A person or thing that is the best example of a certain profession or some doing.
examples: text: Click the loudspeaker icon to configure audio settings.
text: The program's most quintessentially Macintoshian feature, one as yet unique among spreadsheets, is its icon bar, which resides at the top of the screen just below the standard menu bar. It contains 21 icons, each of which allows the user to perform a specified function with but a few clicks of the mouse.
ref: 1985 September 15, Erik Snadberg-Diment, “Number Crunching on the Macintosh”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
topics: computing
engineering
graphical-user-interface
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
sciences
glosses: A small picture that represents something.
examples: text: Is it okay if I use your drawing as my icon?
topics: computing
engineering
graphical-user-interface
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
sciences
glosses: A small picture that represents something.
An image used to represent a user; an avatar or profile picture.
examples: .
topics: human-sciences
linguistics
sciences
semiotics
coordinate_terms: symbol
index
glosses: A word, character, or sign whose form reflects and is determined by the referent; onomatopoeic words are necessarily all icons.
Derived terms: autoicon
bicon
dykon
earcon
emoticon
favicon
gay icon
hamburger icon
iconification
iconifier
iconify
iconisation
iconise
iconization
iconize
iconless
iconlike
iconology
icon-stand
identicon
musicon
obscenicon
subicon
WIMP
Related terms: aniconic
aniconism
iconantidyptic
iconic
iconical
iconically
iconicity
iconicness
iconics
iconism
iconistic
iconistical
iconistically
icono-
iconoclasm
iconoclast
iconoclastic
iconodule
iconodulic
iconodulism
iconodulist
iconoduly
iconograph
iconographer
iconographic
iconographical
iconographically
iconographist
iconography
iconolater
iconolatry
iconological
iconologist
iconology
iconomach
iconomachal
iconomachian
iconomachical
iconomachist
iconomachy
iconomania
iconomatic
iconomatically
iconomaticism
iconomatography
iconometer
iconometric
iconometrical
iconometrically
iconometry
iconophile
iconophilia
iconophilism
iconophilist
iconophily
iconophobe
iconophobia
iconophobic
iconoplast
iconoscope
iconostas
iconostasis
iconotropic
iconotropy
noniconic
uniconic
miniature
replica
simulacrum