token

Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

Contents 1 English 1.1 Etymology 1.2 Pronunciation 1.3 Adjective 1.3.1 Translations 1.4 Noun 1.4.1 Synonyms 1.4.2 Derived terms 1.4.3 Translations 1.4.4 See also 1.5 Verb 2 Dutch 2.1 Etymology 2.2 Pronunciation 2.3 Noun 2.3.1 Usage notes 3 Swedish 3.1 Noun

[edit] English

Wikipedia

[edit] Etymology

From Old English tācen, from Proto-Germanic *taiknam. Cognate with Dutch teken, German Zeichen, Swedish tecken.

[edit] Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ˈtəʊkən/
• (US) IPA: /ˈtoʊkən/
• Rhymes: -əʊkən

[edit] Adjective

token (comparative more token, superlative most token)

1. Something or someone serving as an expression of something else.

   It was a mere token payment. He still owes us.

2. Done as an indication or a pledge; perfunctory, minimal or merely symbolic.

   He made a token tap on the brake pedal at the stop sign.

   • 1927, Arthur Robert Burns, Money and Monetary Policy in Early Times, page 393

     If the as had been reduced to a token in 240 BC, it was now a little more token than before.

   • 2000, Cheris Kramarae, Dale Spender, Routledge International Encyclopedia of Women, Page 176

     There are still many churches where the participation of women is token.

   • 2008, Adrian Blomfield, The Daily Telegraph, Has Russia got a new Stalin?, March 31, 2008

     Just to be on the safe side, the The Kremlin has also banned any of Putin’s serious critics from standing. Three unelectable misfits have been allowed to mount token challenges.

[edit] Translations

[edit] Noun

token (plural tokens)

1. Something serving as an expression of something else; sign, symbol.
2. A keepsake or souvenir.

   Please accept this bustier as a token of our time together.

3. A piece of stamped metal used as a substitute for money.

   Subway tokens are being replaced by magnetic cards.

4. (philosophy) A particular thing to which a concept applies.
5. (computing) An atomic piece of data, such as a word, for which a meaning may be inferred during parsing. Also called a symbol.
   • 2004, Randall Hyde, Write Great Code: Understanding the Machine, page 68

     For each lexeme, the scanner creates a small data package known as a token and passes this data package on to the parser.

[edit] Synonyms

• (something serving as an expression of something else): sign, symbol
• (atomic piece of data): symbol

[edit] Derived terms

• by the same token

[edit] Translations

[edit] See also

• (philosophy): particular, universal, type

[edit] Verb

to token (third-person singular simple present tokens, present participle tokening, simple past and past participle tokened)

1. (philosophy) To symbolize or instantiate
   • 2008, Mikkel Gerken, “Is There a Simple Argument for Higher-Order Representation Theories of Awareness Consciousness?”, Erkenntnis, vol. 69, no. 2, August 27: 

     In which sense does ‘∀p ~(p & ~p)’ cause the tokening of the belief in the subject?

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[edit] Dutch

[edit] Etymology

From English token.

[edit] Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈtokən/

[edit] Noun

token m. and n. (plural tokens, diminutive tokentje)

1. (computing) Token, an atomic piece of data.

[edit] Usage notes

There is no general agreement about the gender. In the south, people tend to use ‘het’, whereas in the north, ‘de’ is preferred.

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[edit] Swedish

[edit] Noun

token

1. Definite form of tok.