Eikones

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Visual representations created by artists capturing scenes or subjects; symbolic images used for religious worship or veneration; digital or printed pictures conveying information or decoration
2. Artistic depictions portraying figures or narratives; sacred icons honored in spiritual contexts; images produced through electronic or mechanical means for communication or aesthetic purposes
3. Crafted likenesses showing persons or events; revered objects serving as focal points for devotion; graphical reproductions displayed in various media for expression or instruction

Etymology: "Eikones" is the plural of "eikon," the Greek word that gave English "icon." In ancient Greek, "eikon" meant a likeness, image, or portrait, and the word was used of anything that represented or resembled something else, from a painted figure to a statue or a reflection. The same root sits behind "eikon" as the basis for "eikazein," to make like or resemble. The plural form, which is the one used here, carries the sense of many such likenesses at once. Over time the word narrowed in Christian Greek to sacred images, particularly the painted panels of Christ, the Virgin, and the saints that were venerated in Byzantine churches. That devotional sense is why the English "icon" came to mean a revered image, and later a symbolic figure or a small graphic on a screen.

Synonyms: icons, images, pictures, portraits