token

American  

[toh-kuhn] / ˈtoʊ kən /

noun

• tokens
  plural

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.

3. a memento; souvenir; keepsake.

   The seashell was a token of their trip.

4. something used to indicate authenticity, authority, etc.; emblem; badge.

   Judicial robes are a token of office.

5. Also called token 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.

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

7. virtual token.

8. 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.

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

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

11. 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.”

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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.

   Synonyms:

   symbolic

2. slight; nominal; minimal.

   token resistance;

   a token amount.

idioms

1. by the same token,

   1. moreover; furthermore.

      She has a talent as a painter, and by the same token has a sharp eye for detail.

   2. 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.

token British  

/ ˈtəʊkən /

noun

1. an indication, warning, or sign of something

2. a symbol or visible representation of something

3. something that indicates authority, proof, or authenticity

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

5. a memento

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

7. (modifier) as a matter of form only; nominal

   a token increase in salary

8. linguistics a symbol regarded as an individual concrete mark, not as a class of identical symbols Compare type

9. 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

10. moreover and for the same or a similar reason

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verb

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

token More Idioms  

1. see by the same token; in token of.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• pretoken
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• tokens
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of token

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

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Explanation

When you give someone a flower or a friendship bracelet or something symbolic of the way you feel about them, you're giving them a token of your affection. A token is not only something sentimental (like a keepsake) or symbolic (like your friendship bracelet). You, yourself, can also be a token: If you're the only female in your office, for instance, and you were hired just so there'd be at least one woman, then you're the "token female." Tokens can also be a kind of special currency, like the coins you use in slot machines. Before the Metro Card, New York City subway riders paid their fares with tokens.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

token tokens

In linguistics, researchers describe individual words as categories called "types," while each appearance of a word in text is known as a "token."

From Science Daily ● Oct. 24, 2026

The coaches on both sidelines wore Orange County Fire Authority hats as a token of gratitude.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 24, 2026

Although there have been small, token land returns, California Native nations still hold less than 1% of the state’s land.

From Salon ● Oct. 23, 2026

That makes cost per useful completed task more revealing than cost per token alone.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026

“Ella, you should give it to me. It would be a token of our friendship.”

From "Ella Enchanted" by Gail Carson Levine

Google's AI models now process nearly 32 billion tokens, or units of text, per minute, more than four times the level of a year ago, the company said.

From Barron's ● Oct. 28, 2026

We generated approximately 45,000 to 55,000 tokens combing through the filing in search of insight into how Anthropic’s customers are putting its models to use.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 27, 2026

Robinhood recently launched AI trading agents as well as stock tokens and a social-trading platform.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 27, 2026

Microsoft expects it to deliver 40% more tokens — pieces of information that AI models process and generate — per megawatt than leading systems based on graphics processing units.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026

The Latin for indices and tokens is signa or indicia; the French is preuves.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

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Related Words

• badge
• expression
• manifestation
• memento
• proof
• souvenir
• symbol

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