symbology
Americannoun
-
the study of symbols.
-
the use of symbols; symbolism.
noun
Other Word Forms
- symbological adjective
- symbologist noun
Etymology
Origin of symbology
First recorded in 1830–40; by haplology, symbolo- (combining form of symbol ) + -logy
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.
Catholic symbology plays an outsized role in horror — thanks, in no small part, to the influence of “The Exorcist.”
From New York Times
As a grand statement on America — the kind the album’s cover sets you up for with its striking stars-and-bars symbology — “Cowboy Carter” feels a bit mushy.
From Los Angeles Times
The show charts his progression into increasingly florid work — near-cryptic symbology woven into baroque, calligraphic abstraction, which he made nearly until his death in 2019.
From New York Times
Since that post, he has received almost 2,000 images containing homemade figurines, many holding posters of protest with curious symbology.
From Seattle Times
The zombie is ambrosia for the mind of the horror-media buff: it possesses the visual and visceral spectacle of necrosis, the ever-present symbology of death, the excitement of the interminably strange.
From Salon
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.