symbol
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: sĭmbəl
ipa: /ˈsɪmbəl/
rhymes: -ɪmbəl
homophone: cymbal
Forms: form: symbols
Etymology: From French symbole, from Latin symbolus, symbolum (“a sign, mark, token, symbol, in Late Latin also a creed”), from Ancient Greek σύμβολον (súmbolon, “a sign by which one infers something; a mark, token, badge, ticket, tally, check, a signal, watchword, outward sign”), from συμβάλλω (sumbállō, “I throw together, dash together, compare, correspond, tally, come to a conclusion”), from σύν (sún, “with, together”) + βάλλω (bállō, “I throw, put”).
Senses: examples: text: "$" is the symbol for dollars in the US and some other countries.
text: Chinese people use word symbols for writing.
glosses: A character or glyph representing an idea, concept or object.
examples: text: The lion is the symbol of courage; the lamb is the symbol of meekness or patience.
glosses: A thing considered the embodiment or cardinal exemplar of a concept, theme, or other thing.
topics: human-sciences
linguistics
sciences
glosses: A type of noun whereby the form refers to the same entity independently of the context; a symbol arbitrarily denotes a referent. See also icon and index.
examples: text: The Apostles, Nicene Creed and the confessional books of Protestantism, such as the Augsburg Confession of Lutheranism are considered symbols.
glosses: A summary of a dogmatic statement of faith.
topics: chemistry
crystallography
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
glosses: The numerical expression which defines a plane's position relative to the assumed axes.
examples: text: They do their work in the days of peace […] and come to pay their symbol in a war or in a plague.
ref: 1651–1653, Jer[emy] Taylor, ΕΝΙΑΥΤΟΣ [Eniautos]. A Course of Sermons for All the Sundays of the Year. […], 2nd edition, London: […] Richard Royston […], published 1655, →OCLC:
glosses: That which is thrown into a common fund; hence, an appointed or accustomed duty.
examples: text: The persons who are to be judged […] shall all appear to receive their symbol.
ref: 1651–1653, Jer[emy] Taylor, ΕΝΙΑΥΤΟΣ [Eniautos]. A Course of Sermons for All the Sundays of the Year. […], 2nd edition, London: […] Richard Royston […], published 1655, →OCLC:
glosses: Share; allotment.
topics: computing
engineering
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
programming
sciences
glosses: An internal identifier used by a debugger to relate parts of the compiled program to the corresponding names in the source code.
topics: communications
electrical-engineering
engineering
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
telecommunications
glosses: A signalling event on a communications channel; a signal that cannot be further divided into meaningful information.
Derived terms: anarchy symbol
API service symbol
at symbol
biohazard symbol
Blissymbol
Cambrian symbol
chemical symbol
Christoffel symbol
compound symbol
copyleft symbol
copyright symbol
eigensymbol
infinity symbol
intersymbol
Jacobi symbol
Kronecker symbol
Legendre symbol
Mars symbol
multisymbol
nonterminal symbol
non-terminal symbol
numero symbol
peace symbol
phonetic symbol
Pochhammer symbol
recycling symbol
Schläfli symbol
sex symbol
status symbol
stock symbol
stock ticker symbol
subsymbol
symbolatry
symbolgram
symbol group
symbolify
symbolisation
symbolistic
symbolization
symbologenic
symbologist
symbology
symboloid
symbololatry
symbolophobia
symbol pusher
symbol pushing
symbol-pushing
symbolry
symbol table
terminal symbol
ticker symbol
trademark symbol
typographical symbol
Venus symbol
Related terms: diabolical
symbolic
symbolize
symbolism