token

C2+ Topic:Abstract Ideas

US /ˈtoʊkən/ UK /ˈtəʊkən/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
a thing serving as a visible sign or symbol of a fact, quality, or feeling

She kept the ring as a token of their friendship.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a thing serving as a... sign symbol mark emblem indication badge evidence expression

Word family

Derived forms tokenismtokenistictokenize

Related forms betoken

Appears in

Idioms (1)

See all

by the same token
for the same or a closely related reason

Simplified etymology

Token has meant a sign or symbol since Old English times. During shortages of small coinage in the 17th and 18th centuries, tradespeople issued metal discs called tokens because they represented or substituted for official money. The later sense “voucher,” as in book token, dates from the early 20th century.

Etymology

From Old English tācen ('sign, symbol, evidence'), from Proto-Germanic *taikną, from the Proto-Indo-European root *deyḱ- ('to show').

tācen Old English *taikną Proto-Germanic *deyḱ- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Abstract Ideas Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# token

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈtoʊkən/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈtəʊkən/

## Meanings
1. a thing serving as a visible sign or symbol of a fact, quality, or feeling

## Examples
- She kept the ring as a token of their friendship.

## Synonyms
- sign
- symbol
- mark
- emblem
- indication
- badge
- evidence
- expression

## Derived Forms
- tokenism
- tokenistic
- tokenize

## Related Forms
- betoken

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: tācen
- Root: *taikną
- Root: *deyḱ-

## Etymology
From Old English tācen ('sign, symbol, evidence'), from Proto-Germanic *taikną, from the Proto-Indo-European root *deyḱ- ('to show').

## AI Etymology
Token comes from Old English tācen ('sign, symbol, evidence'), from Proto-Germanic *taikną, from the Proto-Indo-European root *deyḱ- ('to show'). The historical chain includes Old English tācen, Proto-Germanic *taikną, and Proto-Indo-European *deyḱ-. The quoted older senses, "sign, symbol, evidence" and "to show", supply the semantic anchors for token. The formation is best read as borrowed: the word token carries its older form-history into a compact English lexical shape. In present English it is used as a noun, "a thing serving as a visible sign or symbol of a fact, quality, or feeling". English derivatives include tokenism, tokenistic, and tokenize; related English forms include betoken. The result is a noun and adj whose etymology preserves both the older form and the later English specialization.

## Topics
- Abstract Ideas
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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