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symbol
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As a noun, symbol means a character or glyph representing an idea, concept or object. As a verb, it means symbolize.
Meanings of symbol
12 meaningsnoun
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.”
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.”
linguisticsA 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.
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.”
crystallographyThe numerical expression which defines a plane's position relative to the assumed axes.
programmingAn internal identifier used by a debugger to relate parts of the compiled program to the corresponding names in the source code.
telecommunicationsA signalling event on a communications channel; a signal that cannot be further divided into meaningful information.
An arbitrary sign (written or printed) that has acquired a conventional significance
Something visible that by association or convention represents something else that is invisible
“the eagle is a symbol of the United States”
Similar: symbolization, symbolisation, symbolic representation
Older and rare meanings (2)
obsoleteThat which is thrown into a common fund; hence, an appointed or accustomed duty.
obsoleteShare; allotment.
verb
To symbolize.
Meanings from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet (CC BY 4.0).