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

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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”

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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

"We like the Oval Office, and it's a symbol like the White House itself. It's a symbol of our country and the greatness of our country," Trump said.

From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2026

Analysts also have said the facilities have become a visible symbol of the divide between those who are thriving in the current economy and those who aren’t.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 4, 2026

The vitriol was all so loud, so suffocating, that it became the symbol of this race in the minds of the South Asian voters I spoke with in the Columbus metropolitan region.

From Slate ● Nov. 4, 2026

Some protesters carried red carnations, a symbol of Portugal's 1974 revolution, evoking the peaceful military-led uprising that ended nearly five decades of dictatorship.

From Barron's ● Nov. 1, 2026

Ama starts on another Adinkra symbol, carving what looks like a turtle into a tree.

From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer

Clad in caps and jackets emblazoned with their respective national symbols, Lantratova and Lubinets, often appearing side-by-side, on Friday oversaw the local ceasefire in the Russia-occupied Ukrainian city of Oleshky.

From Barron's ● Nov. 3, 2026

"Bald eagles are widely recognised as symbols of freedom. They deserve better than to be used as an entertainment prop to amuse the Eagles' fans."

From BBC ● Oct. 21, 2026

In response, he created a series of photographic collages that showed Black boxers battling corporate towers — figures that generate wealth attempting to take down the symbols of its accumulation.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 20, 2026

In “Beowulf” and other works, these wetlands have also offered a useful literary metaphor as keepers of cultural memory and symbols of repressed terrors.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026

More symbols, like those painted on the sides of the ships, were carved into the ground.

From "Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky" by Kwame Mbalia

Beware Of the symboled Curse in the Bondman there!

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

Nature's heart, with the spring joy put back and deadened, symboled the melancholy that had fallen upon Bridgeport.

From The Life of Phineas T. Barnum by Joel Benton

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

Gold stamens set in silver filigrane Reveal the treasures which we idolize; And all the cost of struggle for the prize Is symboled by a secret blood-red stain.

From A Distinguished Provincial at Paris by Ellen Marriage

A pole diagonal—striped red, Teeth in their row in order strung, And pewter bason by them slung, Far in the street projecting stood— The pole with bandage symboled blood.

From Fables of John Gay (Somewhat Altered) by John Gay

Great are the symbols of being, but that which is symbolled is greater; Vast the create and beheld, but vaster the inward creator.

From The Optimist's Good Morning by Florence Hobart Perin

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

From The Bandolero A Marriage among the Mountains by Mayne Reid

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

Say, then, reader, is not every element of thought which can arise between a Christian and his Creator symbolled forth here in equal beauty and grandeur?

From Lands of the Slave and the Free Cuba, the United States, and Canada by Henry A. Murray

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

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Related Words

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

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