something that represents or stands for something else, usually by convention or association, esp a material object used to represent something abstract
2.
an object, person, idea, etc, used in a literary work, film, etc, to stand for or suggest something else with which it is associated either explicitly or in some more subtle way
3.
a letter, figure, or sign used in mathematics, science, music, etc, to represent a quantity, phenomenon, operation, function, etc
4. psychoanalysis
the end product, in the form of an object or act, of a conflict in the unconscious between repression processes and the actions and thoughts being repressed
the symbols of dreams
5. psychology
any mental process that represents some feature of external reality
verbWord forms: -bols, -bolling, -bolledWord forms: US-bols, -boling or -boled
6. (transitive) another word for symbolize
Word origin
C15: from Church Latin symbolum, from Greek sumbolon sign, from sumballein to throw together, from syn- + ballein to throw