an arbitrary sign ( written or printed) that has acquired a conventional significance

A visible sign or representation of an idea; anything which suggests an idea or quality, or another thing, as by resemblance or by convention; an emblem; a representation; a type; a figure; as, the lion is the symbol of courage; the lamb is the symbol of meekness or patience.

Any character used to represent a quantity, an operation, a relation, or an abbreviation.

An abstract or compendium of faith or doctrine; a creed, or a summary of the articles of religion.

That which is thrown into a common fund; hence, an appointed or accustomed duty.

Share; allotment.

An abbreviation standing for the name of an element and consisting of the initial letter of the Latin or New Latin name, or sometimes of the initial letter with a following one; as, C for carbon, Na for sodium ( Natrium), Fe for iron ( Ferrum), Sn for tin ( Stannum), Sb for antimony ( Stibium), etc. See the list of names and symbols under Element.

To symbolize.

Something, not a likeness, that stands for something else; an emblem, or sign of an idea, quality, or another thing; a mark or letter representing something in mathematics.

A sign by which one knows a thing: an emblem. that which represents something else: a figure or letter representing something: ( theol.) a creed, compendium of doctrine, or a typical religious rite, as the Eucharist.

Sign; emblem; representation.

Symbolic, symbolical.

Something that stands for something else; an emblem; a type.

A character, mark, etc., indicating something, as a quantity in mathematics.

The sign or representation of any moral thing by the images or properties of natural things; an emblem or representation of something else; a letter or character which is significant; in medals, a certain mark or figure representing a being or thing; an abstract or compendium; a creed.

And hath the muse no symbol in the Dove? – The Poetical Works of Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton, Bart. M.P. by Edward Bulwer Lytton

Thus bestowed, it is the symbol of authority and is called the Episcopal Ring. – The American Church Dictionary and Cyclopedia by William James Miller

With his crimson hand, he traced the great symbol of his Faith on the stone- the Sign of the Cross. – Despoilers of the Golden Empire by Gordon Randall Garrett

It was the symbol of authority in the wilderness. – The Judgment House by Gilbert Parker

The soul within her leaped toward it and seized it as a symbol. – The Readjustment by Will Irwin

Write the symbol for this compound. – An Introduction to Chemical Science by R.P. Williams

1- 3, there follows the announcement of salvation more directly, and only with a simple allusion to the symbol. – Christology of the Old Testament: And a Commentary on the Messianic Predictions, v. 1 by Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg

And as man's vision grows clearer, as he shows less desire for image and symbol, so will the number of these names, the number of these forms, tend to diminish. – The Buried Temple by Maurice Maeterlinck

Nature shall be to thee as a symbol. – The Complete PG Works of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (The Physician and Poet not the Jurist)

The boat- train represented liberty- it was the symbol of things free and large; but their thoughts did not go so far as that. – Masterman and Son by W. J. Dawson

It is not some superstition or some symbol. – The Ball and The Cross by G.K. Chesterton

Our Lord took the fisherman's humble calling, and made it the symbol of spiritual service. – My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year by John Henry Jowett

He loved the Irish language as his native speech- loved it, too, as a symbol, and something more, perhaps- as an expression of the nationality of Ireland. – Hyacinth 1906 by George A. Birmingham

An explanation would be useless; but she had recovered her ring, and she knew the value he put upon her gifts, both this one and the greater gift of which it was a symbol. – The Mayor of Warwick by Herbert M. Hopkins

All the earth seemed to lie behind it, and all its gaze to be fixed on the symbol of the infinite. – The Seaboard Parish Volume 1 by George MacDonald

I saw instantly that he recognized the symbol, and knew what it meant, doubtless better than I did. – The Red Symbol by John Ironside

Who would chose a worm as a symbol of power? – Underground by Suelette Dreyfus