Symbol

Symbol

A symbol is something that represents an idea, a process, or a physical entity. The purpose of a symbol is to communicate meaning. For example, a red octagon may be a symbol for "STOP". On a map, a picture of a tent might represent a campsite. Numerals are symbols for numbers. Personal names are symbols representing individuals. A red rose symbolizes love and compassion.

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Famous quotes containing the word symbol:

    If we define a sign as an exact reference, it must include symbol because a symbol is an exact reference too. The difference seems to be that a sign is an exact reference to something definite and a symbol an exact reference to something indefinite.
    William York Tindall (1903–1981)

    A pool is, for many of us in the West, a symbol not of affluence but of order, of control over the uncontrollable. A pool is water, made available and useful, and is, as such, infinitely soothing to the western eye.
    Joan Didion (b. 1934)

    There is that in me—I do not know what it is—but I know it is in me ...
    I do not know it—it is without name—it is a word unsaid,
    It is not in any dictionary, utterance, symbol ...
    Do you see O my brothers and sisters?
    It is not chaos or death—it is form, union, plan—it is eternal life—it is Happiness.
    Walt Whitman (1819–1892)