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symbolize. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
symbolize, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
symbolize in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
symbolize you have here. The definition of the word
symbolize will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
symbolize, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Etymology
From Middle French symboliser.
Pronunciation
Verb
symbolize (third-person singular simple present symbolizes, present participle symbolizing, simple past and past participle symbolized)
- (transitive) To be symbolic of; to represent.
2006, Edwin Black, chapter 2, in Internal Combustion:The popular late Middle Ages fictional character Robin Hood, dressed in green to symbolize the forest, dodged fines for forest offenses and stole from the rich to give to the poor. But his appeal was painfully real and embodied the struggle over wood.
- (transitive, intransitive) To use symbols; to represent ideas symbolically.
- (intransitive, obsolete) To resemble each other in qualities or properties; to correspond; to harmonize.
1627 (indicated as 1626), Francis , “(please specify the page, or |century=I to X)”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. , London: William Rawley ; rinted by J H for William Lee , →OCLC:The pleasing of colour symbolizeth with the pleasing of any single tone to the ear; but the pleasing of order doth symbolize with harmony.
- (intransitive, obsolete) To hold the same faith; to agree.
1824, George Stanley Faber, The Difficulties of Infidelity:The believers in pretended miracles have always previously symbolized with the performers of them.
Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations
To be symbolic of; to represent