symbolize
Americanverb (used with object)
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symbolizes,
present (3rd person singular)
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symbolized,
past participle, past
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symbolizing
present participle
verb (used without object)
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symbolizes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
symbolized,
past participle, past
-
symbolizing
present participle
verb
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(tr) to serve as or be a symbol of
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to represent by a symbol or symbols
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(intr) to use symbols
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(tr) to treat or regard as symbolic or figurative
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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symbolizesimple
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symbolizessimple
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have symbolizedperfect
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has symbolizedperfect
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am symbolizingprogressive
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are symbolizingprogressive
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is symbolizingprogressive
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have been symbolizingperfect progressive
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has been symbolizingperfect progressive
Past
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symbolizedsimple
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had symbolizedperfect
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was symbolizingprogressive
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were symbolizingprogressive
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had been symbolizingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of symbolize
From the New Latin word symbolizāre, dating back to 1580–90. See symbol, -ize
Explanation
Use the verb symbolize when you use an image, shape, color, or other simple visual to stand for something else, like when you wear black to symbolize that you're mourning a loss. To symbolize is to make a symbol out of something. Symbolize traces back to the Greek word symbolon, which combines syn-, meaning "together," and bol, meaning "to throw." The earliest Christians were, so to speak, "thrown together" because of their beliefs, and so the Christian "marks" that represented their belief in one God became the first items to be described as symbols.
Vocabulary lists containing symbolize
Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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Vocabulary to Describe Literary Devices
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The Perks of Being a Wallflower
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The 4-inch vinyl “Pop!” figurines, with their oversize heads and black dot eyes, symbolize being ingrained in pop culture — objects fans buy, celebrate and display.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 26, 2026
“Having something physical to symbolize that makes you feel like you’re in this insider club,” she added, referring to tech-company-branded timepieces.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
Built as part of efforts to modernize Venezuela, the buildings now symbolize the country's dire situation after twin quakes on Wednesday left nearly 1,500 people confirmed dead and tens of thousands missing.
From Barron's ● Jun. 29, 2026
The city owes more than its name to the first commander in chief; George Washington encouraged the French developer Pierre Charles L’Enfant to design a capital that would symbolize the nation.
From Slate ● May 18, 2026
It was a ceremonial planting, meant to symbolize the friendship between two great nations, and Kennedy, in the spirit of the event, grabbed a shovel.
From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin
In part, however, it is being led by the film that most aptly symbolizes Zaslav’s failures.
From Slate ● Sep. 1, 2026
Today it symbolizes freedom and resistance to aggression.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026
A: Ruth symbolizes what she herself expressed: decency.
From Barron's ● Mar. 19, 2026
The door of the Legacy Tower symbolizes perseverance, Smith says.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 11, 2026
“It symbolizes everything Vietnam was,” he told me.
From "Boots on the Ground: America's War in Vietnam" by Elizabeth Partridge
But as state "bodegas" disappear, the "libreta" ration book that symbolized equal access to affordable food for all is being quietly shelved.
From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026
They have nothing except each other, their love symbolized by a red flower that Orpheus offers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
In his telling, two distinct social archetypes rooted in the era of England’s 17th-century civil war—the Cavalier and the Puritan—were symbolized by the ships of his title, the White Lion and the Mayflower.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 10, 2026
Eve symbolized beauty and promised consumers the same results through their purchasing power.
From Salon ● May 17, 2026
The North symbolized to me all that I had not felt and seen; it had no relation whatever to what actually existed.
From "Black Boy" by Richard Wright
Both are moving on, heading outside our field of vision; soon they’ll be gone, symbolizing the continuity of space and time.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026
The cover is illustrated by a mango tree, symbolizing her parents’ home country of El Salvador.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 17, 2026
The tall teal pillars of the Ambassador Bridge linking Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, mark one of the busiest land borders in North America, symbolizing a profitable and once-dependable partnership.
From Salon ● Dec. 2, 2025
This mutual cooperation embodies the Japanese concept of "AUN," symbolizing balance and harmony between opposites.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 9, 2025
There were three beads now, representing my three summers at camp—a trident, the Golden Fleece, and the latest: an intricate maze, symbolizing the Battle of the Labyrinth, as the campers had started to call it.
From "The Battle of the Labyrinth" by Rick Riordan
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
