emoticon

noun

Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₁éǵʰ Proto-Indo-European *-s Proto-Indo-European *h₁éǵʰs Proto-Italic *eks Latin ex Latin ex- Proto-Indo-European *m(y)ewh₁-der. Proto-Italic *moweō Latin moveō Latin ēmoveō Vulgar Latin *exmovēre Old French esmovoir Middle French esmouvoir Middle French emotionbor. English emotion Ancient Greek εἰκών (eikṓn)der. Latin īcōnbor. English icon blend English emoticon Blend of emotion + icon. Unrelated to emoji.

1. A graphical representation of a particular emotion of the writer, used especially in SMS, email, or other electronic communication.

   “A remark intended humorously is often indicated by the letter G in parentheses, for "grin," or by a sideways happy face built from punctuation marks. Such symbols are known as emoticons.”

   “In a 4 by 2 experimental procedure, :) ;) :( or no emoticon were inserted alternately in simulated e-mail message mock-ups”

2. A graphical representation of a particular emotion of the writer, used especially in SMS, email, or other electronic communication.

   “In addition to placing emoticons by clicking icons in the pop-up panel shown in Figure 4-2, you can enter the text representation in your text chat window. For example, to show the image of the emoticon with sunglasses, you enter (cool).”