icon

American  

[ahy-kon] / ˈaɪ kɒn /

Also ikon,

noun

icons plural

1. Digital Technology. a picture or symbol that appears on a screen and is used to represent a file, account, application, etc..

   Tap the icon to download the app.

   Click the flag icon at the top of the web page to toggle the language to English.

2. Eastern Church. a representation of some sacred personage or event, such as Christ or a saint or the Resurrection, painted usually on a wood surface and venerated for its subject.

3. a person or thing that epitomizes for many people a value, an era, a community, etc.

   Blue jeans remain an American cultural icon, despite the outsourcing of their manufacture to other countries.

4. a person or thing that is revered or idolized.

   Elvis Presley is a cultural icon of the 20th century.

5. Semiotics. a sign or representation that stands for its object by virtue of a resemblance or analogy to it.

6. any picture, image, or other representation.

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icon British  

/ ˈaɪkɒn /

noun

1. Also: ikon.  a representation of Christ, the Virgin Mary, or a saint, esp one painted in oil on a wooden panel, depicted in a traditional Byzantine style and venerated in the Eastern Church

2. an image, picture, representation, etc

3. a person or thing regarded as a symbol of a belief, nation, community, or cultural movement

4. a person regarded as a sex symbol or as a symbol of the latest fashion trends

5. a pictorial representation of a facility available on a computer system, that enables the facility to be activated by means of a screen cursor rather than by a textual instruction

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icon Scientific  

/ ī′kŏn′ /

1. In a graphical user interface, a picture on the screen that represents a specific file, directory, window, or program. Clicking on an icon will start the associated program or open the associated file, directory, or window.

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icon Cultural  

1. An image used in worship in the Eastern Orthodox Church and among other Christians (see also Christian) of similar traditions. Icons depict Jesus, Mary, and the saints, usually in a severe, symbolic, nonrealistic way.

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Synonym Usage

See image.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• icons
  plural

Etymology

Origin of icon

First recorded in 1565–75; from Latin īcon, from Greek eikṓn “figure, image, likeness”

Explanation

An icon is a symbol. It can be literal — like the little trashcan on your computer screen — or metaphorical — as in a singer so well known by ten-year-olds, he's called a pre-teen pop icon. Icon comes to us from the Greek word eikenai, meaning "to seem or to be like." In certain religions, statues of religious figures are referred to as icons — because they are prayed to as if they were the thing they represent. Icon can also describe a person closely linked to an idea. Mahatma Gandhi is revered as an icon of peace and humanity, while Adolf Hitler is reviled as an icon of violence and hatred.

Example Sentences

"I've only really made it to being an icon because my life has been made and saved many times over by being lucky enough to make music."

From BBC • Jul. 10, 2026

“I was embarrassed by her because she was a joke,” Steinem told Gail Levin, who directed a documentary about the screen icon for “American Masters.”

From Salon • Jul. 6, 2026

It took the poetic craft of Longfellow to rescue Revere from obscurity, transforming him into the patriotic icon he remains today.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jul. 3, 2026

The contrast cannot be starker: selfie-taking tourists sipping coffee at Starbucks -- an icon of globalisation and capitalism -- while looking out over reclusive, communist North Korea.

From Barron's • Jul. 2, 2026

Carved from olivewood, a little bigger than a shoe box, it had a tin lid perforated by tiny airholes and inset with the icon of an unrecognizable saint.

From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides

Related Words

• apotheosis
• avatar
• embodiment
• epitome
• incarnation
• manifestation
• personification
• quintessence
• representation
• symbol