Symbolic

How to spell symbolic

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce symbolic

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does symbolic mean?

1. adjectiveServing as a symbol; representing or standing for something beyond its literal self.

Symbolic in a sentence

• The handshake was a symbolic gesture of reconciliation between the two firms.

• Laying the first brick had symbolic value, even though real construction began months later.

Where does symbolic come from?

Language of origin: Greek

This word descends from the Greek symbolon, meaning a token, sign, or pledge, which was built from syn 'together' and ballein 'to throw'. The literal idea was of things 'thrown together' or matched up: in the ancient world a symbolon was often a tally, an object broken in two so that the matching halves could later confirm an agreement or identity. From this came the broad sense of a mark that stands for something else, and the Latin symbolicus and symbolum carried the notion of a sign or creed into later European use. English took 'symbolic' in the early 1600s, partly through French symbolique and partly straight from the Latin, with the sense of representing one thing by means of another. The same ballein root that means 'to throw' also lurks inside surprising relatives such as 'parable', 'problem', and 'ballistic', which is a handy reminder that the 'bol' in the middle is doing real etymological work.

How the word is built

• sym- (together)
• bol (from Greek ballein: to throw)
• -ic (adjective suffix)