symbol

American  

[sim-buhl] / ˈsɪm bəl /

noun

• symbols
  plural

1. something used for or regarded as representing something else; a material object representing something, often something immaterial; emblem, token, or sign.

2. a letter, figure, or other character or mark or a combination of letters or the like used to designate something.

   the algebraic symbol x; the chemical symbol Au.

3. (especially in semiotics) a word, phrase, image, or the like having a complex of associated meanings and perceived as having inherent value separable from that which is symbolized, as being part of that which is symbolized, and as performing its normal function of standing for or representing that which is symbolized: usually conceived as deriving its meaning chiefly from the structure in which it appears, and generally distinguished from a sign.

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verb (used with object)

symboled, symboling, symbolled, symbolling

1. to use symbols; symbolize.

symbol British  

/ ˈsɪmbəl /

noun

1. something that represents or stands for something else, usually by convention or association, esp a material object used to represent something abstract

2. an object, person, idea, etc, used in a literary work, film, etc, to stand for or suggest something else with which it is associated either explicitly or in some more subtle way

3. a letter, figure, or sign used in mathematics, science, music, etc to represent a quantity, phenomenon, operation, function, etc

4. psychoanal the end product, in the form of an object or act, of a conflict in the unconscious between repression processes and the actions and thoughts being repressed

   the symbols of dreams

5. psychol any mental process that represents some feature of external reality

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verb

1. (tr) another word for symbolize

symbol Scientific  

/ sĭm′bəl /

1. A conventional, printed or written figure used to represent an operation, element, quantity, relation, unit of measurement, phenomenon, or descriptor.

2. Also called sign

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symbol ¹ Cultural  

1. An object or name that stands for something else, especially a material thing that stands for something that is not material. The bald eagle is a symbol of the United States of America. The cross is a symbol of Christianity. The Star of David is a symbol of Judaism.

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symbol ² Cultural  

1. Something that represents or suggests something else. Symbols often take the form of words, visual images, or gestures that are used to convey ideas and beliefs. All human cultures use symbols to express the underlying structure of their social systems, to represent ideal cultural characteristics, such as beauty, and to ensure that the culture is passed on to new generations. Symbolic relationships are learned rather than biologically or naturally determined, and each culture has its own symbols.

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symbol Idioms  

1. see status symbol.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• symbols
  plural

Etymology

Origin of symbol

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Latin symbolum, from Greek sýmbolon “sign,” equivalent to sym- sym- ( def. ) + -bolon, neuter for bolḗ (feminine) “a throw, stroke, glance, blow”

Explanation

A symbol can be an object, shape, sign, or character used to represent something else. A flag is a symbol of a country. English teachers never tire of talking about symbols in literature. A pink ribbon is a symbol of breast-cancer awareness, and a yellow ribbon is a symbol of support for U.S. troops. In literature, authors use many symbols. A character doing even a small thing, like eating a cheeseburger, might symbolize something larger about that character. Something you need to be rich to have — like a limousine — is called a "status symbol." Anytime one thing seems to represent a deeper meaning, it's probably a symbol.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

symbol symbols symboled symbolled symbolling

The Chrysler Building, which was opened in 1930 as a symbol of exuberance and modernity, had faced several years of uncertainty over its ownership.

From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026

Cathy Ames is a complicated symbol, as the countless people who glommed on to Clancy’s case want her to be.

From Salon ● Oct. 3, 2026

“It certainly represents victory and all those attributes about the Olympics. But it also brings people together, and it’s a symbol of hope and what the Olympic movement really does for everyone.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 29, 2026

For Livia, who performs it for a university recital, it is her greatest triumph and a symbol of her hubris, because mastering it seems to presage a fall.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026

The oohing and aahing people express toward the inky-eyed panda have made the bear not only an international sensation—but the de facto symbol of China itself.

From "Camp Panda" by Catherine Thimmesh

Such objects can become symbols of our relationships, Ekerdt said: “We keep things because they represent ties and reciprocity with other people.”

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 29, 2026

He argues they should become "symbols of Britain's renaissance".

From BBC ● Sep. 27, 2026

Since then, the Vikings have become such well-known symbols that they are now recognized around the world.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 23, 2026

Its three plexiglass vaults hold ghostly symbols of procreation: an irradiated vortex, the fertility goddess Hera, a DNA spiral.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 19, 2026

He copies down sections of books, writes out words and symbols he does not understand at first but that become intimately familiar beneath his ink-stained fingers, formed again and again in increasingly steady lines.

From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern

Beware Of the symboled Curse in the Bondman there!

From The Orpheus C. Kerr Papers. Series 2 by R. H. (Robert Henry) Newell

At its lowest, the instinct that boosts us up to peep over our neighbor's transom, symboled by a knot-hole.

From The Roycroft Dictionary Concocted by Ali Baba and the Bunch on Rainy Days. by Elbert Hubbard

Ah, could the world but gaze upon that Christ With heart attuned unto the symboled love That makes his face a radiant miracle!

From Pan and Æolus: Poems by Charles Hamilton Musgrove

Will thy hand hold the pen which shall indict The symboled mystery-write the final knell Of rainbow fancy-is the distant sight A nothingless encircled by a spell Of gleaming bubbles wrought of beauty's shell?

From Anthology of Massachusetts Poets by William Stanley Braithwaite

These cherubs symboled the joy of life, and when Allegri wished to sign his name, he drew a cherub.

From Little Journeys to the Homes of the Great - Volume 06 Little Journeys to the Homes of Eminent Artists by Elbert Hubbard

It was in my heart, and must have been symbolled in my countenance.

From The Bandolero A Marriage among the Mountains by Mayne Reid

That with the earth symbolled forth sudden, or perhaps violent, death; that with the water, emigration or ship-wreck; while that with the ring, of course a wedding and domestic happiness.

From The Catholic World; Volume I, Issues 1-6 A Monthly Eclectic Magazine by E. Rameur

The Word in truth is symbolled forth by that straight stem on which I hang.

From The Gnostic Crucifixion by G. R. S. Mead

"Fyve wellys"—there symbolled trace, Hushing this mortal strife,— "Of pitty, merci, comfort, gracy, And everlastingh lyffe."

From The Strife of the Roses and Days of the Tudors in the West by William Henry Hamilton Rogers

The public too should be sufficiently knowing to catch the code signals of each artist whereby these natural facts are symbolled.

From Pictorial Composition and the Critical Judgment of Pictures by Henry Rankin Poore

Be it the birthday wreath she wears Fresh and fair, and symbolling The young number of her years, The sweet blushes of her spring.

From Ballads by William Makepeace Thackeray

Related Words

• badge
• design
• emblem
• figure
• image
• indication
• logo
• motif
• pattern
• token
• type