symbol English · revision 6051

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1434|origins=grc σύμβολον}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈsɪm.bəl/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English simbal, symbole, [[bor|frm|symbole]], and directly [[bor|la-lat|symbolum|t=creed, token, mark]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(Etymonline) from [[grc|σύμβολον|tr=súmbolon|t=token, watchword, sign]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998) literally “that which is thrown together”,^(Etymonline) from [[m|grc|σύν|tr=sún|t=together]] (see [[syn-]]) and the stem of [[m|grc|βάλλειν|tr=bállein|t=to throw]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(Etymonline) from PIE [[ine-pro|*gʷelh₁-|t=to throw, reach]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A creed, a formal summary of Christian belief: about 1434 in Barnhart and the mid-15th century in Etymonline,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) first of the Apostles' Creed.^(Cresswell 2021)^(NODE 1998)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Greek the sense went from throwing things together to comparing, and so to a token compared with its counterpart to prove it genuine.^(Etymonline) About 250 Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, applied it to the baptismal creed, as the outward sign that marked a Christian off from a heathen.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) Something that stands for something else, especially an object representing something sacred or abstract, is from 1590 in the OED and the 1580s in Etymonline,^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) and the word had non-religious senses by the late 16th century.^(Cresswell 2021) A written character or mark standing for something, such as a letter or a sign in mathematics, is from about 1620.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) Trench notes that 17th-century scholars such as Jeremy Taylor also used it in the Greek sense of a contribution to a common stock, as at a picnic;^(Trench 1859) the SOED treats this as a separate noun from Latin symbola (early 17th to early 19th century).^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1434 – a creed.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1590 – something that stands for something else.^(OED 1989)

+ * early 17th century – a contribution, a share.^(SOED 2002)

+ * c. 1620 – a written character or sign.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1671 – an object representing something sacred.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Something that represents something else by association or convention, especially a material object standing for something abstract.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A printed or written [[sign]] used for an operation, element, quantity or relation, as in [[mathematics]] or [[chemistry]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # An object, person or idea used in a work of art or literature to stand for something else.^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(Christianity)'' A [[creed]].^(SOED 2002)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[symbolistic]]

+ * [[symbolization]]

+ * [[symbology]]

+ * [[status symbol]]

+ * [[sex symbol]]

+ * [[peace symbol]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[diabolical]]

+ * [[symbolic]]

+ * [[symbolize]]

+ * [[symbolism]]

+ * [[parable]]

+ * [[problem]]

+ * [[emblem]]

+ * [[ballistic]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The AHD compares symbol, [[attribute]] and [[emblem]], which all mean something associated with and standing for or identifying something else.^(AHD)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}