English Explanatory Dictionary

icon

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. An image, symbol, picture, portrait, or other representation, usually as an object of religious devotion.
  2. A type of religious painting portraying a saint or scene from Scripture, often done on wooden panels.
  3. A person or thing that is the best example of a certain profession or some doing.
  4. A small picture that represents something.
  5. An image used to represent a user; an avatar or profile picture.
  6. A word, character, or sign whose form reflects and is determined by the referent; onomatopoeic words are necessarily all icons.
noun
  1. Acronym of index currency option note, a type of financial instrument.

Pronunciation

/ˈaɪ.kɒn/ /ˈaɪ.kən/ /ˈaɪ.kɑn/ En-us-icon.ogg

Word forms

icon icons eikon ikon

Etymology

From Latin īcōn, from Ancient Greek εἰκών (eikṓn, “likeness, image, portrait”). Eastern Orthodox Church sense is attested from 1833. Computing sense first recorded in 1982.

Synonyms

idol graven image archetype byspel case case in point embodiment epitome eponym exemplar exemplification example exemplificator Exhibit A illustration incarnation instance paradigm prototype quintessence representative sample specimen symbol ur-type icon model paragon pattern template

Related words

aniconic aniconism iconantidyptic iconic iconical iconically iconicity iconicness iconics iconism iconistic iconistical iconistically icono- iconoclasm iconoclast iconoclastic iconodule iconodulic iconodulism iconodulist iconoduly iconograph iconographer iconographic iconographical iconographically iconographist iconography iconolater iconolatry iconological iconologist iconology iconomach iconomachal iconomachian iconomachical iconomachist iconomachy iconomania iconomatic iconomatically iconomaticism iconomatography iconometer iconometric iconometrical iconometrically iconometry iconophile iconophilia iconophilism iconophilist iconophily iconophobe iconophobia iconophobic iconoplast iconoscope

Derived words

autoicon bicon dykon earcon emoticon favicon gay icon hamburger icon iconification iconifier iconify iconisation iconise iconization iconize iconless iconlike iconology icon-stand identicon musicon obscenicon subicon WIMP

Translations

Arabic: قُونَة Arabic: أَيْقُونَة Armenian: պատկեր Armenian: պատկերակ Belarusian: во́браз Belarusian: абра́з Bulgarian: изображе́ние Bulgarian: ико́на Catalan: icona Cornish: ikon Czech: ikona Danish: ikon Dutch: icoon Dutch: pictogram Esperanto: piktogramo Esperanto: ikono Finnish: ikoni Finnish: symboli Finnish: kuvake French: icône Galician: icona German: Bild German: Icon Greek: εικόνα Greek: εικονίδιο Hungarian: ikon Irish: íocón Italian: icona Latin: icon Latin: icuncula Maltese: ikona Māori: ata Māori: ata iti Norman: icône Norwegian Bokmål: ikon Norwegian Nynorsk: ikon Persian: شمایل Persian: نماک Polish: ikona Polish: ikonka Portuguese: ícone Russian: изображе́ние Russian: о́браз Russian: ико́нка Russian: пиктогра́мма Russian: значо́к Russian: карти́нка Scottish Gaelic: ìomhaigh Serbo-Croatian: ѝкона Serbo-Croatian: ìkona Serbo-Croatian: иконица Serbo-Croatian: ikonica Slovak: ikona Slovak: symbol Slovene: ikona Spanish: icono Spanish: ícono Swedish: ikon Swedish: bild Swedish: symbol Ukrainian: зобра́ження Ukrainian: о́браз Ukrainian: іко́нка Ukrainian: значо́к Ukrainian: піктогра́ма Ukrainian: карти́нка Vietnamese: biểu tượng Welsh: eicon Yup'ik: ikuunaq Amharic: አዶ Burmese: အိုင်ကွန်
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
Back to search All on I Russian dictionary Dahl dictionary