token

[ toh-kuhn ]
See synonyms for: tokentokenedtokeningtokens on Thesaurus.com

noun
  1. something serving to represent or indicate some fact, event, feeling, etc.; sign: Black is a token of mourning.

  2. a characteristic indication or mark of something; evidence or proof: Malnutrition is a token of poverty.

  1. a memento; souvenir; keepsake: The seashell was a token of their trip.

  2. something used to indicate authenticity, authority, etc.; emblem; badge: Judicial robes are a token of office.

  3. Also called to·ken coin . a stamped piece of metal, issued as a limited medium of exchange, as for bus fares, at a nominal value much greater than its commodity value.

  4. anything of only nominal value used in exchange for goods or services, as paper currency.

  5. an item, idea, etc., representing a group; a part as representing the whole; sample; indication: The religious movement was an exhibition of latent energy, and a token of what may take place at some future day.

  6. a person, especially a member of a minority group, who has been hired, admitted, enrolled, etc., to forestall charges of prejudice or discrimination.

  7. an object, as a disk or figure, used in various board games for marking a player's position or for keeping score.

  8. Logic, Linguistics. a particular instance of a word, symbol, expression, sentence, or the like: A printed page might have twenty tokens of the single type-word “and.”: Compare type (def. 8).

verb (used with object)
  1. to be a token of; signify; symbolize.

adjective
  1. serving as a token: At the end of the field trip each child received a token gift to take home as a memento.The HR complaint was filed by a man who felt his hiring had been meant to add a token male to an all-female staff.

  2. slight; nominal; minimal: token resistance;a token amount.

Idioms about token

  1. by the same token,

    • moreover; furthermore: She has a talent as a painter, and by the same token has a sharp eye for detail.

    • in proof of which: The study examined the possible effects of stress on health and, by the same token, IQ and test scores.

  2. in token of, as a sign of; in evidence of: a ring in token of his love.

Origin of token

1
First recorded before 900; Middle English token(e), tokin(e), Old English tāc(e)n, tācon; cognate with German Zeichen, Old Norse teikn, tākn “sign, mark”; see teach

Other words for token

Other words from token

  • pre·to·ken, noun, verb (used with object)

Words Nearby token

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use token in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for token

token

/ (ˈtəʊkən) /


noun
  1. an indication, warning, or sign of something

  2. a symbol or visible representation of something

  1. something that indicates authority, proof, or authenticity

  2. a metal or plastic disc, such as a substitute for currency for use in slot machines

  3. a memento

  4. a gift voucher that can be used as payment for goods of a specified value

  5. (modifier) as a matter of form only; nominal: a token increase in salary

  6. linguistics a symbol regarded as an individual concrete mark, not as a class of identical symbols: Compare type (def. 11)

  7. philosophy an individual instance: if the same sentence has different truth-values on different occasions of utterance the truth-value may be said to attach to the sentence-token: Compare type (def. 13)

  8. by the same token moreover and for the same or a similar reason

verb
  1. (tr) to act or serve as a warning or symbol of; betoken

Origin of token

1
Old English tācen; related to Old Frisian tēken, Old Saxon tēkan, Old High German zeihhan, Old Norse teikn; see teach

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with token

token

see by the same token; in token of.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.