: an authoritative summary of faith or doctrine : creed
2
: something that stands for or suggests something else by reason of relationship, association, convention, or accidental resemblance
especially: a visible sign of something invisible
the lion is a symbol of courage
3
: an arbitrary or conventional sign used in writing or printing relating to a particular field to represent operations, quantities, elements, relations, or qualities
4
: an object or act representing something in the unconscious mind that has been repressed
phallic symbols
5
: an act, sound, or object having cultural significance and the capacity to excite or objectify a response
Noun the traditional physician's symbol of a staff entwined with a snake the symbol ¶ indicates where a new paragraph should begin
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Rick Owens or Jacquemus would not be showing hats if the Queen had not been wearing hats throughout her reign—because the hat became a symbol of fashion, where the volume or the presence is outside the norm. Stephen Jones, Vogue, 13 Sep. 2022 Instead, Kherson became a symbol of peaceful resistance. Ian Lovett, WSJ, 11 Sep. 2022 The concept naturally spread to all Wisconsin sports and became a symbol of Wisconsin pride. Jr Radcliffe, Journal Sentinel, 9 Sep. 2022 The case became a symbol for widespread impunity, dishonesty, and lack of care for victims in the Mexican justice system. Whitney Eulich, The Christian Science Monitor, 30 Aug. 2022 And yet, Princess Diana’s pret-a-porter ring became a symbol of history. Stellene Volandes, Town & Country, 23 Aug. 2022 That birthmark on his forehead always seemed to be some symbol of mystical significance, as if an angel had bopped him in the womb. Thomas Geoghegan, The New Republic, 31 Aug. 2022 NFTs featuring apes, a beloved symbol to early crypto adopters, have sold for more than $1 million. Richard Vanderford, WSJ, 31 Aug. 2022 Exactly who or what each symbol signified Kolya didn’t know. Henry Wismayer, Anchorage Daily News, 30 Aug. 2022
Verb
The laser eyes symbol that Saylor incorporated into his profile picture started in online Bitcoin communities but has spread to the mainstream.Fortune, 13 June 2022 Press and hold the app icon, tap App Info (the i symbol), and tap Permissions. Julian Chokkattu, Wired, 8 Sep. 2020 The Unicode Consortium—the organization in charge of determining which symbols our devices are supposed to recognize—has more and more been measuring the wrong thing in the process of approving new emoji.Wired, 8 Nov. 2019 Drawing route cards and placing trains remains the same, but most tracks on the board that connect two cities also have one or more railroad company symbols next to them. Keith Law, Ars Technica, 12 Oct. 2019 To me that demonstrated the central role that symbols play in the culture. Lorraine Boissoneault, Smithsonian, 16 Mar. 2017 See More
Word History
Etymology
Noun
in sense 1, from Late Latin symbolum, from Late Greek symbolon, from Greek, token, sign; in other senses from Latin symbolum token, sign, symbol, from Greek symbolon, literally, token of identity verified by comparing its other half, from symballein to throw together, compare, from syn- + ballein to throw — more at devil
1image/object/event that is a sign of sth作為標誌的形象、物體或事件ADJECTIVE | VERB + SYMBOL | PREPOSITIONADJECTIVE➤dramatic, important, perfect, potent, powerful, ultimate令人印象深刻的/重要的/完美的/有影響力的/有力的/首要的象徵◇The Berlin wall was the ultimate symbol of the Cold War.柏林牆是冷戰的首要象徵。➤universal普遍的象徵◇The dove is a universal symbol of peace.鴿子在世界範圍內都是和平的象徵。➤outward, physical, visual外在/物質/形象化象徵◇The company car is an outward symbol of the employee's status.公司配車是員工地位的外在體現。➤ancient, traditional古老的/傳統的象徵▸➤national國家的象徵▸➤cultural, political文化/政治象徵▸➤religious, sacred宗教的/神聖的象徵▸➤Christian, Hindu, etc.基督教、印度教等的象徵▸➤fertility, phallic, sexual豐產的象徵;男性生殖器的象徵;性象徵◇The people use fertility symbols to ensure a good harvest.人們用豐產象徵物來確保好收成。➤sex (= a person famous for being attractive)性感偶像◇He is not most people's idea of a sex symbol.他並不是大多數人心目中的性感偶像。➤status地位的象徵◇A stressful job can actually be a status symbol.一份有壓力的工作其實可以看成是地位的象徵。VERB + SYMBOL➤become成為象徵➤create創造象徵➤represent代表象徵◇Guevara has come to represent a powerful symbol of defiance.格瓦拉已成為代表反抗力量的強有力象徵。➤adopt sth as, consider sth, interpret sth as, regard sth as, see sth as, use sth as用⋯作象徵;認為⋯是象徵;把⋯當成象徵◇Eggs are seen as the symbol of new life.蛋被看成是新生命的象徵。PREPOSITION➤symbol of⋯的象徵◇a symbol of royal power王權的象徵symbol
noun²
2letter/sign that has a particular meaning有特定意義的字母或符號ADJECTIVE | VERB + SYMBOL | SYMBOL + VERB | PREPOSITIONADJECTIVE➤abstract, geometric抽象/幾何符號▸➤graphic, written圖畫/書寫符號▸➤chemical, Chinese, linguistic, mathematical, musical, phonetic化學/中文/語言/數學/音樂/語音符號◇A list of phonetic symbols is given in the front of the dictionary.詞典的前面給出了音標表。VERB + SYMBOL➤bear, be marked with, have帶有/標有/擁有標記◇The coin bears a Jewish symbol.硬幣上有猶太標記。◇The bottle had a skull and crossbones symbol on it.瓶子上有骷髏畫標記。➤display, show, use顯示標誌;使用標誌◇Hotels that show this symbol offer activities for children.有這個標誌的旅館均提供兒童活動設施。➤decipher, interpret, understand解讀/解釋/理解符號SYMBOL + VERB➤denote sth, indicate sth, mean sth, represent sth符號表示⋯/表明⋯/意味着⋯/代表⋯◇What does this little symbol mean?這個小標誌是什麼意思?PREPOSITION➤in symbols用符號◇a message written in symbols用符號寫的信息➤symbol for代表⋯的符號◇O is the chemical symbol for oxygen.O 是氧的化學符號。