Definition of "symbol" []

• Something that represents something else by association, resemblance, or convention, especially a material object used to represent something invisible. See Synonyms at sign. (noun)
• A printed or written sign used to represent an operation, element, quantity, quality, or relation, as in mathematics or music. (noun)
• Psychology An object or image that an individual unconsciously uses to represent repressed thoughts, feelings, or impulses: a phallic symbol. (noun)
• To symbolize. (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Moreover it is quite clear that while, as will be shown hereafter, the symbol of the cross had for ages been a Pagan symbol of Life, it can, as already stated, scarcely be said to have become a Christian _symbol_ before the days of Constantine."
• "mrstg87 {@ symbol} yahoo {dot} com or bowermaster {@symbol} gmail {dot} com"
• ""Not at all," said Freeborn; "that was Melancthon's doctrine; he explained away a cardinal truth into a mere matter of words; he made faith a mere symbol, but this is a departure from the pure gospel: faith is the _instrument_, not a _symbol_ of justification."