Symbolism

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈsɪmbəˌlɪzəm/

Definitions

1. The use of concrete objects, images, or figures to represent abstract meanings, ideas, or emotional concepts in artistic, literary, or cultural works
2. The method of expressing intangible notions, values, or feelings through representative visual, linguistic, or cultural signs and their deeper significance
3. The practice of conveying complex or abstract concepts by using tangible or visual elements as signs

Etymology: The noun "symbolism" is built from "symbol" and the suffix "-ism," which turns a noun into a name for a practice, doctrine or system. "Symbol" itself came into English from Latin "symbolum," borrowed from Greek "symbolon," a token made by breaking a piece of pottery or metal in two, so that two parties could later prove their identity by fitting the halves together. A symbol was therefore originally a matching pair of fragments, something that pointed back to a shared bond. The sense "use of signs meaning" is the newer one, and it arrived through French. Its second sense, the one listed here, is a semantic loan from French "symbolisme," which took on the meaning of a movement or method in which objects and images stand for ideas beyond themselves. English borrowed that sense of the word for art and literature, so that "symbolism" now names the deliberate use of signs to convey meaning.

Synonyms: representation, metaphor, signification, allegory, emblematic

Antonyms: literalism, realism