Symbol

How to spell symbol

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce symbol

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does symbol mean?

1. nounA mark, sign, or object that represents an idea, quantity, or relationship.

Symbol in a sentence

• The dollar symbol appears before the amount on the invoice.

• The company chose a green leaf as the symbol of its environmental mission.

Where does symbol come from?

Language of origin: Greek

Symbol comes from the Greek symbolon, which literally meant a 'token' or 'sign by which something is inferred', built from the prefix syn-, meaning 'together', and the verb ballein, meaning 'to throw' or 'to cast'. The original symbolon was a physical object, often a coin, ring, or tablet broken in two, with each party keeping a half; throwing the pieces back together proved an agreement or identity, so the word came to mean a mark that stands for something larger. It passed from Greek into Latin as symbolum, then into English through Latin and French in the 1400s, at first in religious senses such as a creed or statement of faith. The modern sense of a visible mark or emblem representing an idea grew steadily from there. The same ballein root that means 'to throw' also sits inside words like 'problem' and 'parable', and the kept 'y' from Greek is exactly the spelling trap, since the word sounds nothing like its homophone 'cymbal', the percussion instrument.

How the word is built

• sym- (together)
• bol (from ballein: to throw/cast)