token

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English [edit]

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Etymology [edit]

From Middle English token, taken, from Old English tācen (“symbol, sign, signal, mark, indication, suggestion; portent, marvel, wonder, miracle; evidence, proof: standard, banner”), from Proto-Germanic *taikną (“sign, token”), from Proto-Indo-European *deyǵe-, *deyḱe- (“to show, instruct, teach”). Cognate with Scots taiken (“sign, token”), West Frisian teken (“sign, token”), Dutch teken (“sign, symbol, token”), German Zeichen (“sign”), Swedish tecken (“sign, mark, indication, token”), Icelandic tákn, teikn (“sign, symbol”), Albanian theks (“accent, sign”), Latin index (“finger”, literally “pointer”), Ancient Greek  (deigma, “sample”). More at toe.

Pronunciation [edit]

Noun [edit]

token (plural tokens)

  1. Something serving as an expression of something else; sign, symbol
  2. A keepsake, momento, souvenir
    Please accept this bustier as a token of our time together.
  3. A piece of stamped metal used as a substitute for money; a voucher that can be exchanged for goods or services
    Subway tokens are being replaced by magnetic cards.
    A book token is the easiest option for a Christmas gift.
  4. (obsolete) Evidence, proof; a confirming detail; physical trace, mark, footprint; also fig.
  5. Support for a belief; grounds for an opinion; reason, reasoning, witcraft (see usage)
  6. An extraordinary event serving as evidence of supernatural power, a miracle
  7. An object or disclosure to attest or authenticate the bearer or an instruction; a password
  8. A seal guaranteeing the quality of an item.
  9. Something given or shown as a symbol or guarantee of authority or right; a sign of authenticity, of power, good faith.
    • (Can we date this quote?) Shakespeare
      Say, by this token, I desire his company.
  10. A tally
  11. (philosophy) A particular thing to which a concept applies.
  12. (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.
  13. (grammar) A lexeme; a basic, grammatically indivisible unit of a language such as a keyword, operator or identifier.
  14. (medicine) A characteristic sign of a disease or of a bodily disorder, a symptom; a sign of a bodily condition, recovery, or health.
  15. (medicine) (obsolete) A livid spot upon the body, indicating, or supposed to indicate, the approach of death.
  16. (printing) Ten and a half quires, or, commonly, 250 sheets, of paper printed on both sides; also, in some cases, the same number of sheets printed on one side, or half the number printed on both sides.
  17. (mining) A bit of leather having a peculiar mark designating a particular miner. Each hewer sends one of these with each corf or tub he has hewn.
  18. (mining) A thin bed of coal indicating the existence of a thicker seam at no great distance.
  19. (weaving) In a loom, a colored signal to show the weaver which shuttle to use.

Synonyms [edit]

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

Derived terms [edit]

Translations [edit]

something serving as an expression of something else
keepsake or souvenir
piece of stamped metal used as a substitute for money
atomic piece of data
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

See also [edit]

Adjective [edit]

token (comparative more token, superlative most token)

  1. 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.
  2. a minor attempt for appearance sake, or to minimally comply with a requirement
    • he was hired as the company's token black
    • the television show was primarily directed toward a negro audience, but it did have a few token whites as performers

Derived terms [edit]

Translations [edit]

merely symbolic

Verb [edit]

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

  1. To betoken, indicate, portend, designate, denote
  2. To betroth
  3. (philosophy) To symbolize, instantiate

Derived terms [edit]

References [edit]

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.

  • Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

Dutch [edit]

Etymology [edit]

From English token.

Pronunciation [edit]

  • IPA: /ˈtoːkə(n)/

Noun [edit]

token m, n (plural tokens, diminutive tokentje)

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

Usage notes [edit]

There is no general agreement about the gender. In the south, people tend to use neuter, whereas in the north, masculine is preferred.

Anagrams [edit]

Swedish [edit]

Noun [edit]

token

  1. definite singular of tok
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