icon English · revision 7184

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1572|origins=grc εἰκών}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈaɪ.kɒn/, /ˈaɪ.kən/ ''(UK)''; /ˈaɪ.kɑn/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la-lat|icon]],^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from Greek [[m|grc|εἰκών|tr=eikṓn|t=likeness, image, portrait]],^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(Cresswell 2021) related to [[m|grc|ἔοικα|tr=eíkenai|t=to be like]].^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ An image, figure or picture: 1572 in the OED and MWU, the 1570s in Etymonline.^(OED 1989)^(MWU 2024)^(Etymonline) NODE gives the first sense as a simile.^(NODE 1998)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A statue is from 1577–87,^(OED 1989) and in rhetoric a simile, a figure of speech comparing two things, from 1589.^(OED 1989)^(Cresswell 2021) Word Origins notes it later meant a portrait, especially an illustration in a natural history book.^(Cresswell 2021) A devotional painting of a holy figure in the Eastern Church is attested from 1833, not before the mid-19th century.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)^(Cresswell 2021) A celebrated figure such as a sports or pop star, a symbol of something, dates from the early 1950s,^(Cresswell 2021) and the small picture on a computer screen representing a program or file is recorded by 1982.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1572 – an image.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1589 – a simile (obsolete).^(OED 1989)

+ * 1833 – an Eastern Church icon.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * early 1950s – a celebrated figure.^(Cresswell 2021)

+ * 1982 – a computer icon.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A painting of Christ or a saint, especially in the [[Orthodox]] Church, venerated as sacred.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A person or thing regarded as a symbol of something: ''a fashion icon''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(computing)'' A small picture on a screen representing a program, file or function.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # An image or representation.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[iconic]]

+ * [[iconically]]

+ * [[emoticon]]

+ * [[iconology]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[aniconic]]

+ * [[aniconism]]

+ * [[iconicity]]

+ * [[icono-]]

+ * [[iconoclasm]]

+ * [[iconoclast]]

+ * [[iconographer]]

+ * [[iconographic]]

+ * [[iconography]]

+ * [[iconolatry]]

+ * [[iconophile]]

+ * [[iconoscope]]

+ * [[iconostasis]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}