Symbolists

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A group of artists and writers who advocate for the expression of emotions and ideas through symbolic imagery and language
2. Artists who utilize symbols and metaphors to convey deeper meanings, often rejecting realism in their work and literature
3. Creators associated with a movement emphasizing the use of abstract representation to evoke feelings and suggest ideas rather than depict reality directly

Etymology: The plural "symbolists" is simply the form of "symbolist" used for more than one person, and the noun names the members of a movement rather than a single artist's habit of using symbols. The base word was coined in French as "symboliste," and the most striking part of its story is who coined it: the poet Paul Verlaine, in 1885. He used the term to describe a group of writers who were turning away from the plain description of the naturalists and toward suggestion, dreamlike imagery and hidden meaning. The French word itself is built from "symbole," which came into the language from Latin "symbolum" and Greek "symbolon," a token or sign. In ancient Greece a "symbolon" was originally a physical object, such as a broken piece of pottery that two parties kept so that the halves could later be fitted together as proof of identity or agreement. The meaning then widened from that tangible token to any sign that stands for something else.

Synonyms: representationalists, figuratives, metaphorists, allegorists