symbolize

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French symboliser,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} also spelled symbolizer.^[4][5] The OED and Merriam-Webster derive the French verb from Latin symbolizō (“to express by a symbol; to be alike in quality”), which the OED and Dictionary.com call modern Latin and Merriam-Webster Medieval Latin,^[4][7][2] while Etymonline and Klein derive it from symbole.^[6][3] Both go back to Late Latin symbolum (“token, mark, creed”),^[6][2][3] from Ancient Greek σύμβολον (súmbolon, “token, sign”),^[6][8][1] from συμβάλλω (sumbállō, “to throw together, compare”).^[8][1] The English ending corresponds to -ize.^[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

To mix or unite elements or substances, especially those of similar qualities: 1590, in Marlowe's Tamburlaine the Great, a sense gone by 1610.^[4][5] Dictionary.com dates the word 1580–90,^[7] and Etymonline, which starts from the sense of representing, about 1600.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The earliest senses have nothing to do with representing: they build on the idea of likeness in quality that Merriam-Webster gives for the Medieval Latin verb.^[2] Elements with a common quality were said to symbolize, and Johnson (1755) quoted Boyle on air and water as "symbolizing elements, in the quality of moisture".^[9] From 1605 the verb also meant to agree in belief or practice, especially in religion, and was frequent in the 17th century.^[4] The modern senses appear at nearly the same time, in P. Holland's translations: "to be a symbol of" in 1603, in his Plutarch, and "to represent by a symbol" in 1606, in his Suetonius.^[4] Treating something as symbolic follows in 1646, in Sir T. Browne.^[4] The older sense "to be alike" lasted until 1816,^[4] while Johnson listed both ideas side by side.^[9] A late sense, to formulate in a creed, recorded in 1895, goes back to the use of symbol for a creed.^[4][6]

Timeline

• 1590 – transitive, to mix or unite elements (obsolete by 1610).^[4][5]
• 1601 – intransitive, to combine, as elements with common qualities (obsolete by 1628).^[4]
• 1603 – to be a symbol of, in Holland's Plutarch.^[4][2] Etymonline dates the word to about 1600.^[6]
• 1605 – to agree in quality or nature (obsolete by 1816); also to agree in belief or practice.^[4]
• 1606 – to represent by a symbol or symbols, in Holland's Suetonius.^[4]
• 1646 – to treat as a symbol, in Browne's Pseudodoxia Epidemica.^[4]
• 1895 – to formulate in a creed, in the Standard Dictionary.^[4]

Meanings

Verb

1. To be a symbol of; to represent or stand for: In the poem, the broken bridge symbolizes lost trust.^[10][4][2]
2. To represent by a symbol or symbols: The map symbolizes rivers with blue lines.^[10][4]
3. To use symbols.^[10][2]
4. To treat as symbolic or figurative.^[10][4][5]
5. To formulate in a creed or confession of faith.^[4][5]
6. (rare) To agree in belief or practice; to conform.^[4][5]
7. (archaic) To be alike in qualities or properties; to harmonize.^[2][4][5]

Word family

• symbolization
• symbolizer
• resymbolize

Related words

• symbol
• symbolic
• symbolism
• ballistic
• problem

Usage notes

British English also spells the word symbolise.^[2][10]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
8. ^ a b Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
9. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
10. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins