symbol

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”).

noun

1. A character or glyph representing an idea, concept or object.
   $ is the symbol for dollars in the US and some other countries.
   Chinese people use word symbols for writing.
2. A thing considered the embodiment of a concept or object.
   The lion is the symbol of courage; the lamb is the symbol of meekness or patience.
3. (linguistics) 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.
4. 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. (crystallography) The numerical expression which defines a plane's position relative to the assumed axes.
6. (obsolete) That which is thrown into a common fund; hence, an appointed or accustomed duty.
7. (obsolete) Share; allotment.
8. (programming) An internal identifier used by a debugger to relate parts of the compiled program to the corresponding names in the source code.
9. (telecommunications) A signalling event on a communications channel; a signal that cannot be further divided into meaningful information.

verb

1. To symbolize.