Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The practice of representing things by means of symbols or of attributing symbolic meanings or significance to objects, events, or relationships.
- noun A system of symbols or representations.
- noun A symbolic meaning or representation.
- noun Revelation or suggestion of intangible conditions or truths by artistic invention.
- noun The movement, theory, or practice of the late 19th-century Symbolists.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The investing of things with a symbolic meaning or character; the use of symbols.
- noun Symbolic character.
- noun An exposition or comparison of symbols or creeds.
- noun [capitalized] The theories and practice of the Symbolist School. See
Symbolist , n., 2. - noun An abnormal mental state in which every occurrence is interpreted as a symbol of the subject's own sensations and thoughts.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun The act of symbolizing, or the state of being symbolized.
- noun A system of symbols or representations.
- noun obsolete, obsolete The practice of using symbols, or the system of notation developed thereby.
- noun obsolete A combining together of parts or ingredients.
- noun (Theol.) The science of creeds; symbolics.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun Representation of a
concept throughsymbols or underlyingmeanings of objects or qualities. - noun obsolete A combining together of parts or ingredients.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a system of symbols and symbolic representations
- noun the practice of investing things with symbolic meaning
- noun an artistic movement in the late 19th century that tried to express abstract or mystical ideas through the symbolic use of images
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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But we now arrive at a higher division of masonic symbolism, which, passing beyond these tangible symbols, brings us to those which are of a more abstruse nature, and which, as being developed in a ceremonial form, controlled and directed by the ritual of the order, may be designated as the _ritualistic symbolism_ of Freemasonry.
The Symbolism of Freemasonry Albert G. Mackey
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The name symbolism is also entirely French, referring to Mlle.
MARKETING AESTHETICS BERND SCHMITT 1997
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The name symbolism is also entirely French, referring to Mlle.
MARKETING AESTHETICS BERND SCHMITT 1997
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The name symbolism is also entirely French, referring to Mlle.
MARKETING AESTHETICS BERND SCHMITT 1997
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Still, the term symbolism did not catch on in Germany as a name for any specific poetic group, though Hofmannsthal, e.g., in “Das Gespräch über Gedichte” (1903), pro - claimed the symbol the one element necessary in po - etry.
Dictionary of the History of Ideas REN 1968
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However, ornamental and architectural forms frequently do convey a meaning, which we term symbolism in art.
Scientific American Supplement, No. 598, June 18, 1887 Various
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In these remarks translated from Portuguese, the Brazilian leader referred to what she described as the symbolism of the first meeting between Brazil's first female president, and the first African-American president of the United States.
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In these remarks translated from Portuguese, the Brazilian leader referred to what she described as the symbolism of the first meeting between Brazil's first female president, and the first African-American president of the United States.
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In these remarks translated from Portuguese, the Brazilian leader referred to what she described as the symbolism of the first meeting between Brazil's first female president, and the first African-American president of the United States.
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Bradford: Eric and I have argued that the symbolism is the consequence of assignment.
PossibleUnderscore commented on the word symbolism
It said that all people who are happy have God within them. And that happiness could be found in a grain of sand from the desert, as the alchemist had said. Because a grain of sand is a moment of creation and the universe has taken millions of years to create it.
-The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho
July 27, 2009