symbol

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   something visible that by association or convention represents something else that is invisible

   the eagle is a symbol of the United States

2. 2
   noun

   A character or glyph representing an idea, concept or object.

   "$" is the symbol for dollars in the US and some other countries.

3. 3
   noun

   A thing considered the embodiment or cardinal exemplar of a concept, theme, or other thing.

   The lion is the symbol of courage; the lamb is the symbol of meekness or patience.

4. 4
   noun

   A summary of a dogmatic statement of faith.

   The Apostles, Nicene Creed and the confessional books of Protestantism, such as the Augsburg Confession of Lutheranism are considered symbols.

5. 5
   noun

   That which is thrown into a common fund; hence, an appointed or accustomed duty.

   They do their work in the days of peace […] and come to pay their symbol in a war or in a plague.

6. 6
   noun

   Share; allotment.

   The persons who are to be judged […] shall all appear to receive their symbol.

7. 7
   verb

   To symbolize.

   […] They told me that the Holy Rood had lean'd / And bow'd above me; […] / [I]f it bow'd, whether it symbol'd ruin / Or glory, who shall tell?

8. 8
   noun

   an arbitrary sign (written or printed) that has acquired a conventional significance

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, “to throw together, dash together, compare, correspond, tally, come to a conclusion”), from σύν (sún, “with, together”) + βάλλω (bállō, “to throw, put”).