symbolize
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
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:
Both the ceramic and the chamoy traditions symbolize layers of culture as shaped by globalism and localism.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 17, 2026
The only object that could better symbolize his time in office is the gold toilet erected as an art installation in D.C. by a mysterious collective called the Secret Handshake.
From Salon ● May 20, 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
Lincoln poses almost nonchalantly, one hand touching a book to represent knowledge, the other clutching a scroll to symbolize statecraft.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 13, 2026
I guess we must symbolize something to him—what he could have been or what he should have been.
From "Our America: Life and Death on the South Side of Chicago" by LeAlan Jones
The Velvet Underground’s John Cale represents music, Marc Jacobs stands for fashion and beloved director Martin Scorsese symbolizes film.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 1, 2026
A: Ruth symbolizes what she herself expressed: decency.
From Barron's ● Mar. 19, 2026
Yet, somehow, this problematic statistic and all that it symbolizes doesn’t even register.
From Salon ● Feb. 12, 2026
Fink argues that the song reflects a time of centralized power within the music industry, but symbolizes a desire to escape.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 1, 2026
At Berkeley, that institution which symbolizes middle-class opportunity, students complained about the impersonal life on the campus—they were being reduced to IBM numbers.
From "Hunger of Memory" by Richard Rodriguez
Eve symbolized beauty and promised consumers the same results through their purchasing power.
From Salon ● May 17, 2026
The decision symbolized the trouble Mr. Powell has stored up as his successor Kevin Warsh begins a new monetary era at the Fed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 29, 2026
For generations, it has symbolized resilience and rural life, valued for its toughness, ability to graze on marginal land, and nutrient-dense milk that supported small farmers.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 26, 2026
Alary said other support-group members said they were emotional hearing about it as it symbolized an important moment and turning a corner.
From Slate ● Feb. 2, 2026
The judges thought that the one flowing sleeve symbolized something.
From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith
The soldiers are shadowed by an allegorical figure carrying poppies, symbolizing sleep—an analog, in the art of the time, for death—and a laurel branch symbolizing peace.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
This mutual cooperation embodies the Japanese concept of "AUN," symbolizing balance and harmony between opposites.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 9, 2025
Dmitriev, who heads Russia's sovereign wealth fund, said Musk's company could build the tunnel -- a project "symbolizing unity" -- in under eight years.
From Barron's ● Oct. 17, 2025
Her breezy, layered menswear in that film became a cultural touchstone, symbolizing a new kind of womanhood — intellectual, self-assured and a little eccentric.
From Salon ● Oct. 11, 2025
Cressen's fingers went to the chain about his neck, each link forged from a different metal, each symbolizing his mastery of another branch of learning; the maester's collar, mark of his order.
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
Definitions 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.
