icon

Noun

1. An image, symbol, picture, portrait, or other representation, usually as an object of religious devotion.

   Synonyms: idol graven image

2. A type of religious painting portraying a saint or scene from Scripture, often done on wooden panels.
   • Last week the Archdiocese sent emmissaries to investigate the icon and decided that the tears were not a hoax, Father Koufos said. - 1986 December 22, “‘Weeping Virgin’ Icon Draws Throngs To Chicago”, in The New York...
3. A person or thing that is the best example of a certain profession or some doing.
   • That man is an icon in the business; he personifies loyalty and good business sense.
   • Only a handful of rock musicians have become genuine icons - larger-than-life symbolic figures whose personal triumphs and vicissitudes seem to mirror the ups and downs of rock as a whole, and sometimes of the society...
   • Barbie is viewed as an icon of American culture in her new biography, Barbie: Her Life and Times (Crown, $25), written by Billy Boy, a clothing and jewelry designer in Paris. - 1987 December 23, “Barbie: Doll, Icon Or...

   Synonyms: 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

4. A small picture that represents something.
   • Click the loudspeaker icon to configure audio settings.
   • The program's most quintessentially Macintoshian feature, one as yet unique among spreadsheets, is its icon bar, which resides at the top of the screen just below the standard menu bar. It contains 21 icons, each of...

   1. (Internet, informal) An image used to represent a user; an avatar or profile picture.

      • Is it okay if I use your drawing as my icon?
5. A word, character, or sign whose form reflects and is determined by the referent; onomatopoeic words are necessarily all icons.
   • .

   Coordinate Terms: symbol index