symbol

See also Symbol

English

Wikipedia Wikipedia

Etymology

Symbols of various religions.
1st Row: Christian Cross, Jewish Star of David, Hindu Aumkar
2nd Row: Islamic Star and crescent, Buddhist Wheel of Dharma, Shinto Torii
3rd Row: Sikh Khanda, Bahá'í star, Jain Ahimsa Symbol

From French symbole, from Latin symbolus, symbolum (“a sign, mark, token, symbol, in Late Latin also a creed”), from Ancient Greek σύμβολον (sumbolon, “a sign by which one infers something; a mark, token, badge, ticket, tally, check, a signal, watchword, outward sign”), from συμβάλλω (sumballō, “I throw together, dash together, compare, correspond, tally, come to a conclusion”), from σύν (sun, “with, together”) + βάλλω (ballō, “I throw, put”)

Pronunciation

• IPA: /sɪmbəɫ/
• (US) SAMPA: /sIm.bVl/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪmbəl
• Homophone: cymbal

Noun

symbol (plural symbols)

1. A character or glyph representing an idea, concept or object.

   $ is the symbol for dollars in the US and some other countries.

   '#' is the octothorpe symbol.

   Chinese people use symbols for writing.

2. Any object, typically material, which is meant to represent another (usually abstract) even if there is no meaningful relationship.

   The dollar symbol has no relationship to the concept of currency or any related idea.

3. (linguistics) A type of noun whereby the form refers to the same entity independently of the context; a symbol arbitrarily denotes a referent. See also icon and index.
4. A summary of a dogmatic statement of faith.

   The Apostles, Nicene Creed and the confessional books of Protestantism, such as the Augsburg Confession of Lutheranism are considered symbols.

5. Visible traces or impressions, made using a writing device or tool, that are connected together and/or are slightly separated. Sometimes symbols represent objects or events that occupy space or things that are not physical and do not occupy space.

Derived terms

• status symbol
• typographical symbol

Related terms

• symbolic
• symbolize
• symbolism

Translations

character or glyph

Afrikaans: simbool (af) Bavarian: Sümbol Bulgarian: символ (bg) (símvol) m. Catalan: símbol (ca) m. Croatian: simbol (hr) Czech: symbol (cs) m. Dutch: symbool (nl) French: symbole (fr) m. German: Symbol (de) n. Greek: σύμβολο (el) (sýmvolo) n.

Hebrew: סמל (he) (sémel) m. Hungarian: szimbólum (hu) Icelandic: tákn (is) n. Japanese: 記号 (ja) (きごう, kigō) Polish: symbol (pl) m. Portuguese: símbolo (pt) m. Russian: символ (ru) (símvol) m., эмблема (ru) (embl'éma) f., знак (ru) (znak) m. Swedish: symbol (sv) c., tecken (sv) n. Turkish: simge (tr) Welsh: llythyren (cy) f., symbol (cy) f.

object meant to represent another

Catalan: símbol (ca) m. Dutch: symbool (nl) Esperanto: simbolo (eo) French: symbole (fr) m. German: Symbol (de) n. Greek: σύμβολο (el) (sýmvolo) n. Hebrew: סמל (he) (sémel) m. Hungarian: szimbólum (hu), jelkép (hu)

Icelandic: tákn (is) n. Japanese: 象徴 (ja) (しょうちょう, shōchō) Lunda: yinjikijilu Malayalam: അടയാളം (atayaaLam) Russian: символ (ru) (símvol) m., эмблема (ru) (embl'éma) f., знак (ru) (znak) m. Scots: seembol Swedish: symbol (sv) c. Welsh: symbol (cy) f.

type of noun

French: symbole (fr) m.

Russian: символ (ru) (símvol) m.

summary of a dogmatic statement of faith

French: symbole (fr) m. Greek: σύμβολο (el) (sýmvolo) n.

Hebrew: סממן (he) (sam'mán) m. Russian: символ (ru) (símvol) m.

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Serbo-Croatian: simbol, znak m.; oznaka f. Mandarin: 符号 (fúhào) German: Symbol n. Ido: simbolo Italian: simbolo m. Lithuanian: simbolis m. Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: симбол, знак m.; ознака f. Roman: simbol, znak m.; oznaka f. Spanish: símbolo (es) m. Vietnamese: ký hiệu (1); vật tượng trưng (3)

Verb

symbol (third-person singular simple present symbols, present participle symboling, simple past and past participle symboled)

1. To symbolize

Translations

to symbolize — see symbolize

See also

• punctuation

External links

• symbol in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• symbol in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911

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Czech

Noun

symbol m.

1. symbol

Related terms

• symbolický m.
• symbolismus m.

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Danish

Etymology

From Ancient Greek σύμβολον (symbolon, “a sign by which one infers something; a mark, token, badge, ticket, tally, check, a signal, watchword, outward sign”).

Pronunciation

• IPA: /symboːl/, [symˈb̥oːˀl]

Noun

symbol n. (singular definite symbolet, plural indefinite symboler)

1. symbol

Inflection

    Inflection of symbol

neuter gender	Singular		Plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative, dative and accusative	symbol	symbolet	symboler	symbolerne
genitive	symbols	symbolets	symbolers	symbolernes

Related terms

• symbolik
• symbolisere
• symbolisme
• symbolist
• symbolsk

External links

• Symbol on the Danish Wikipedia.da.Wikipedia

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Swedish

Pronunciation

• audio

  (file)

Noun

symbol c.

1. symbol

Declension

Declension of symbol

	singular		plural
Common	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	symbol	symbolen	symboler	symbolerna
genitive	symbols	symbolens	symbolers	symbolernas