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:
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
This History Channel documentary follows the boxers’ first encounter in 1936, exploring how the rivalry came to symbolize geopolitical tensions before World War II.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 18, 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
By the 1930s, however, utility holding companies came to symbolize the corporate corruption and greed that the average American saw as the root cause of the Great Depression.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
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
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
Sometimes a single day or single event symbolizes the spirit of an age.
From Salon ● Nov. 20, 2025
Others speculate that the name was chosen for its obvious symbolism: White often represents purity, and a rose often symbolizes love, peace, or the beauty of nature and life.
From "Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
They have nothing except each other, their love symbolized by a red flower that Orpheus offers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
Eve symbolized beauty and promised consumers the same results through their purchasing power.
From Salon ● May 17, 2026
Writers and painters often symbolized the Virgin Mary’s immaculate purity by placing her within a hedge.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 21, 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
Hamilton was, after George Washington, the most powerful figure in the Federalist party and, his advocates would have added, the intellectual wellspring for all the political energy that Washington merely symbolized.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
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
Hanukkah celebrates the miracle when a small amount of oil burned for eight days in the rededicated Temple in Jerusalem, symbolizing how light, faith, and resilience will overcome darkness, violence and oppression.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 13, 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 was a skit in which the Panther mascot moved about ripping up paper tombstones symbolizing Permian’s fallen opponents.
From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger
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.
