συμβολικός

Forms

συμβολῐκός (sumbolikós) m (feminine συμβολῐκή, neuter συμβολῐκόν); first/second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek σύμβολον (súmbolon, “token, sign”) + -ικός (-ikós), and in its sense “paid by contributions” it belongs to συμβολή (sumbolḗ, “contribution to a common meal”).^[1][2] Bailly derives it from the latter noun alone.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is an epigram of Posidippus in the Greek Anthology, where it describes a round of drinks paid for by shared contributions.^[2][3][4]

Semantic evolution

The sense “of a contribution” stayed rare: Antigonus of Carystus, quoted by Athenaeus, uses it of a drinking bout paid for in common, and papyri of the 2nd century AD call a fee for drawing up a receipt τὰ συμβολικά.^[2][3]

From the 1st century BC the word is far more common in the sense “symbolic”, linked to σύμβολον “sign”.^[4][2] Dionysius of Halicarnassus has the adverb, and Philo uses it of riddling, figurative answers and of reading Scripture symbolically.^[4][2] Plutarch speaks of saying things by signs and of the symbolic character of Egyptian lore, and Iamblichus of the symbolic way Pythagoras taught.^[2][3] The Stoics used the adverb for an answer that corresponds to a question.^[2] Grammarians such as Apollonius Dyscolus and later Syrianus used it for what is “conventional”, as the name given to each thing is.^[2][3] Galen calls the art of divination from omens ἡ συμβολική.^[2]

Latin borrowed it as symbolicus.^[1] Modern Greek συμβολικός (symvolikós) is a learned revival of the Hellenistic word whose senses follow French symbolique: symbolic, and also token or nominal.^[5]

Timeline

• 3rd century BC – An epigram of Posidippus uses it of drinks paid for by contributions.^[2][4][6]
• 1st century BC – Dionysius of Halicarnassus uses the adverb συμβολικῶς.^[4][6]
• 1st century BC to 1st century AD – Philo uses it of symbolic, figurative or riddling speech.^[2][4][6]
• 1st–2nd century AD – Plutarch uses it of saying things by signs.^[2][3][6]
• 2nd century AD – Apollonius Dyscolus uses it for “conventional”, Galen names divination from omens with it, and an Oxyrhynchus papyrus records a fee called τὰ συμβολικά.^[2][6]
• 4th century AD – Iamblichus uses it of Pythagoras' symbolic manner of teaching.^[2][6]
• Modern Greek – The learned συμβολικός (symvolikós) means symbolic and, after French, token or nominal.^[5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of or belonging to a συμβολή (sumbolḗ): paid for by contributions, by subscription.^[2][3]
2. Symbolic, figurative, riddling; adverb συμβολικῶς, by signs, symbolically.^[2][3][1]
3. Adverb, by way of correspondence, of an answer that matches its question (Stoic).^[2]
4. (grammar) Conventional.^[2][3][7]
5. Neuter plural τὰ συμβολικά: a fee for making out a receipt.^[2]
6. Feminine ἡ συμβολική: the art of divination from omens.^[2]
7. Masculine ὁ συμβολικός: a diviner.^[7]

Related words

• σύμβολον (súmbolon)
• συμβολή (sumbolḗ)
• σύμβολος (súmbolos)
• Latin symbolicus

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Bailly, Anatole (2020), Dictionnaire grec-français, Bailly 2020 Hugo Chávez ed., ed. Gérard Gréco et al.
4. ^ a b c d e f Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
5. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
6. ^ a b c d e f Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
7. ^ a b Korinthios, J. (2025), Grande Dizionario Greco Classico: Greco–Italiano, digital ed., Milan: Hoepli