token

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English token, inherited from Old English tācen (“sign, symbol, evidence”),^[2][3][4] from Proto-Germanic *taikną (“sign”),^[3][5][6] related to the verb tǣcan (“to show, teach”).^[2][3][7] It is cognate with Old Frisian tēken, Old Saxon tēkan, Dutch teken, Old High German zeihhan, German Zeichen and Old Norse teikn (“sign of the zodiac, omen, token”).^[2][8][3] Klein and the AHD trace it to Proto-Indo-European *deyḱ- (“to show”),^[8][4][1] the root of Ancient Greek δείκνυμι (deíknumi, “to show”);^[9] Skeat found this connection not wholly satisfactory.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

A sign or symbol of something, in the Old English translation of Bede;^[11] also proof or evidence, in Beowulf, which Barnhart dates to about 725.^[11][2]

Semantic evolution

In Old English tācen also meant a sign of the zodiac, a standard, an omen and, in biblical use, a miracle.^[11] Weekley notes that the borrowed word sign took over much of its ground, and that the phrase by the same token was very common in the 15th century.^[12] In 1377, in Piers Plowman, it is a sign that authenticates a person or a message.^[11] The sense of a stamped piece of metal dates from the 16th century;^[7] from 1534 it named the metal piece given to show that a person was fit to receive communion.^[13] In the 17th and 18th centuries, when small coins were scarce, tradesmen issued their own coin-like pieces, called tokens because they stood for real money,^[14] and the use for a voucher, as in book token, is from the early 20th century.^[14] The adjective "nominal, done only for the look of it" is recorded in 1915,^[3][9] and its use for a person included only to deflect criticism of discrimination by 1960.^[3] Philosophers of signs have used it since 1908 for an individual instance of a sign, as opposed to its type.^[11]

Timeline

• Old English – tācen, sign, symbol, evidence.^[11][2]
• c. 1250 – Middle English token (Genesis and Exodus).^[2]
• 1377 – a sign that authenticates a person or message.^[11]
• 1534 – a metal piece admitting a person to communion.^[13]
• 16th century – a stamped piece of metal.^[7]
• 1908 – an individual instance of a sign (semiotics).^[11]
• 1915 – adjective, nominal.^[3][9]
• by 1960 – of a person included only for appearance's sake.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. Something that serves as a sign or symbol of something else: a token of thanks.
2. Something that proves authority, identity or authenticity.
3. A metal or plastic disc used instead of money, as in a slot machine.
4. A voucher that can be exchanged for goods of a stated value.
5. A keepsake.
6. (linguistics) An individual occurrence of a word or symbol, as opposed to its type.
7. A person included in a group only to deflect accusations of discrimination.

Adjective

1. Done or given only as a gesture; nominal, minimal: a token rise in pay.

Verb

1. (archaic) To betoken or signify.

Word family

• foretoken
• tokenism
• betoken
• token money

Related words

• teach
• diction

Usage notes

In Scots and northern English dialect, token is pronounced and spelled taiken or takin, and by the same token and more by token were used to add proof or emphasis.^[15]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
5. ^ Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
6. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
7. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
10. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
11. ^ a b c d e f g h Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
12. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
13. ^ a b Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
14. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
15. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)