- something used for or regarded as representing something else; a material object representing something, often something immaterial; emblem, token, or sign.
- a letter, figure, or other character or mark or a combination of letters or the like used to designate something: the algebraic symbol x; the chemical symbol Au.
- (especially in semiotics) a word, phrase, image, or the like having a complex of associated meanings and perceived as having inherent value separable from that which is symbolized, as being part of that which is symbolized, and as performing its normal function of standing for or representing that which is symbolized: usually conceived as deriving its meaning chiefly from the structure in which it appears, and generally distinguished from a sign.
- to use symbols; symbolize.
- something that represents or stands for something else, usually by convention or association, esp a material object used to represent something abstract
- an object, person, idea, etc, used in a literary work, film, etc, to stand for or suggest something else with which it is associated either explicitly or in some more subtle way
- a letter, figure, or sign used in mathematics, science, music, etc to represent a quantity, phenomenon, operation, function, etc
- the end product, in the form of an object or act, of a conflict in the unconscious between repression processes and the actions and thoughts being repressed
- any mental process that represents some feature of external reality
- (tr) another word for symbolize
